BILLINGS, Montana --- No. 14 Biola begins its first trip to the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship since 2012 with a first-round matchup against No. 21 Central Methodist (Mo.) from the Heart of America Athletic Conference at 9:15 a.m. (PT) on March 15. The National Championship is sponsored by Wells Fargo and is held in the Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark in Billings, Mont.
The Eagles are the No. 4 seed in a Cramer bracket that holds seven Top-25 teams. The green and black Eagles of Central Methodist (Mo.) are ranked No. 20, finished third in their conference at the end of the regular season and were eliminated in the conference tournament semifinal.
Check out more information about the match and opponent below.
Central Methodist is an athletic team that brings a good three-point shot and the ability to force turnovers on defense. The Cramer bracket's No. 5 seed ranked fourth in the NAIA in total steals (380) and sixth in three-point field goal percentage at .365 to finish 18-8 in conference and 23-9 overall.
Biola will not be able to hide their aptitude beyond the arc either since All-GSAC guards Annie Park and DeMoria White were both top-5 shooters for total three-pointers made this season. Park finished with 98 threes to lead the NAIA after sinking 11 shots from beyond the arc during the 94-87 win on senior night.
All-GSAC forward Joclyn Kirton also figures to play a huge role in Biola's first-round matchup since the opponent will guard the arc very closely. Biola will look to Kirton to balance out the scoring after she posted 11 double-doubles and scored 20 points or more seven times en route to earning her first basketball all-conference honors.
She also got very familiar with big defensive assignments against the four other All-GSAC forwards from No. 5 Vanguard, No. 7 Westmont and No. 17 The Master's. Kirton and the Eagles have the benefit of experience coming into the national championship that they gained during seven matchups with Top-25 teams in the GSAC.
Biola used two wins against No. 3 ranked teams and an additional regular season win against GSAC tournament finalist The Master's to sky rocket up the NAIA poll from completely unranked to a season-high No. 14 mark.
The Eagles are 3-7 all-time at the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship while Central Methodist (Mo.) is 0-2. It is Biola's first appearance in the tournament since the 2011-12 season. Prior to missing the tournament the last four seasons the Eagles had made the tournament field in each of the four seasons before that.
DaJonee Hale and Lexie Moe lead Central Methodist's offense as the team's two double-digit scorers. Hale used a mix of three-point shots and slashes to the basket to score 18.4 ppg. She also shot .845 from the charity stripe. Moe is a 5-foot-10-inch forward who averages 16.5 points and 6.9 rebounds. She leads the team with 115 made free throws.
Watch the game LIVE via
NAIANetwork.com. The NAIA offers a single-day video pass for $9.95, a tournament pass for $39.95 or an ALL tournament pass (all NAIA tournaments for 2016-17) for $75.00.
The NAIA also provides live statistics of the match via DakStats Webcasts. Visit
this page for live statistics throughout the tournament. Fans can also follow us on our social media (@BiolaAthletics). Live Twitter updates will be available throughout the tournament.
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