LA MIRADA, Calif. --- After a six-year hiatus, the Biola University women's basketball team will be returning to the NAIA Tournament as the Eagles have earned an at-large berth to the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Tournament in Jackson, Tennessee, March 18-24.

The Eagles, who wrapped up the regular season with a 19-11 record earned one of 14 available at-large berths after finishing fifth in the Golden State Athletic Conference with an 11-9 mark. Biola was ranked No. 21 in the final NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll, moving up two spots from the previous week. The 32-team tournament runs Wednesday, March 18, through Tuesday, March 24 at the Oman Arena in Jackson, Tennessee. 

Biola drew a tough road in the tournament, opening against No. 9 Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) at 12:15 p.m. (PST) on Thursday (Mar. 19). The Trojans, who will be making their 10th consecutive NAIA appearance, enter the tournament with a 25-7 record and finished second in the tough TranSouth conference. Trevecca reached the championship game last season before falling to Vanguard, 72-59, advancing to the finals as a No. 6 seed--the same seed the Eagles received in this year's tournament.

The two teams have met just once prior to this year as the Trojans crushed the Eagles 77-30 in the 2000-01 season opener for both schools.

The winner of the game faces a tough road to advance to the championship as No. 5-ranked Lee (Tenn.) and No. 4-ranked Oklahoma Baptist also occupy the same portion of the bracket. The winner of the Biola-Trevecca match-up faces the winner of the Lee vs. Evangel (Mo.) game on Friday at 12:15 p.m. (PST).

Biola's tournament berth caps an impressive turnaround by the program. The Eagles had won no more than 10 games in each of the past four seasons and had won a total of 22 GSAC games over that stretch. The last time Biola won more than 10 games in a season came in 2003-04 as the Eagles won 22 games en route to a berth in the NAIA Tournament.

Biola has made a total of three tournament appearances, though has yet to win an NAIA Tournament game. The Eagles last traveled to Jackson in 2003-04 where they lost to Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 80-64. In 1995-96, Biola earned a trip to the tournament with a 19-11 overall record, but dropped its first game to Southern Nazarene (Okla.) 81-51. The Eagles first appearance came back in 1983-84, capping a 23-10 season with a trip to the NAIA tournament where they lost to Saginaw Valley State MI, 76-56.

GSAC foe Vanguard University, the defending NAIA champion, earned the conference's automatic berth by virtue of winning the regular-season and tournament titles. GSAC runner-up Point Loma Nazarene, Westmont and Azusa Pacific also earned at-large berths as the GSAC sends five teams to the tournament for the second-straight season--the most of any conference in the NAIA.

Fans can catch live video and audio broadcasts of all 31 games of the NAIA Tournament by visiting http://www.watchnaia.com. The championship game will be shown nationwide on