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ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (21-5, 19-3 NSIC) has moved up to #20 in the most recent USA TODAY Sports/WBCA Division II Top-25 Coaches' Poll and will open the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament as the South Division's top seed with a home game against the eighth seed from the North, Minnesota Crookston (8-18, 5-17). The first round game is this Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Gangelhoff Center.
Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and $2 for students. As an official postseason event, season passes and pass lists are not honored for NSIC Tournament contests.
The winner advances to the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament quarterfinals and will play the winner of the No. 4 Northern State / No. 5 Wayne State first round game. If Concordia wins, the game will be played at Gangelhoff Center on Saturday, March 2 at 8 p.m. If UMC wins, the game will be played at the NSU/WSC winner's site.
Concordia is red-hot, having won 18 of the last 19 games overall and 13-straight. They've moved up from #24 in the country to the current position at #20, and are ranked third in the NCAA Central Region Rankings that debuted last Wednesday and will update this Wednesday afternoon.
With the winning streak, the Golden Bears were able to capture the program's fifth NSIC Regular Season overall championship, and pickedup the first NSIC South Division championship in team history with this being the first year of divisional play.
In the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament, Concordia is 17-6 all-time and have won 8-straight games in the first round of the tournament with the only first round loss in program history at the hands of this year's opponent, Minnesota Crookston. That game was in 2003 in Concordia's first year of postseason eligibility, a 66-65 decision in favor of UMC played at Gangelhoff Center. However, this year's first round is the first time in league history with a 16-team format, with all other seasons featuring an 8-team bracket.
This is Concordia's fifth time as a number one seed in the tournament, collecting a 9-2 record as the number one seed with two NSIC Tournament championships. They've reached the NSIC Tournament championship six times overall, winning three of them.
On the line is an automatic bid to the NCAA Central Region Tournament, which is awarded to the NSIC Tournament champion. All 16 teams in the conference tournament are eligible for NCAA postseason play.
Concordia is 20-4 all-time against the Golden Eagles including a 12-game overall winning streak in the series. UMC's last win at Gangelhoff Center was their conference tournament upset in 2003. Concordia is
