EUGENE, Ore. – For the first time in school history, the NCU women's basketball team will be heading to the NAIA National Championship tournament, taking place at Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa.
 
Head Coach Heath Alexander said, "Our bags are packed and we are on our way to the national tournament. This has been a great season and we are not finished. I am so proud of this team and all the teams that I have coached here at NCU. We have worked extremely hard to earn this opportunity and we are go glad it is finally here."
 
The 32-team tournament takes place in one location over six days in one of the most exciting tournament atmospheres in the country. First round games are split over two days, followed by second-round games on Friday and quarterfinal games on Saturday. After a day off on Sunday, semifinalists return on Monday with the championship game set for the following night.
 
Similar to the NCAA tournaments, the competition is broken down into four brackets, named after historical figures within NAIA basketball. NCU earned the No. 5 seed in the Liston Bracket and will face off against No. 4 seed Taylor University on Wednesday, March 7 at 1:45 pm CST.
 
First-Round Preview
 
No. 18 NCU will take on the No. 15 Taylor University Trojans in the fourth game of day-one action.
 
Experience on the national stage won't be a factor as the Trojans are returning to the dance for the first time in eight years. The third-place team in the Crossroads League, Taylor earned the second automatic bid to the tournament by taking runner-up status at their conference tournament.
 
Taylor owns a 23-10 record including a 14-4 mark in Crossroads action. The come in with a strong resume as they played 13 games against NAIA Top-25 teams. They took six wins in those contests.
 
The Trojans are a relatively young squad with just six upper-classmen on the roster, but the starting lineup consists of two juniors, two seniors, and a sophomore. At the top of the list is a formidable junior in Kendall Bradbury. The 5-11 Forward leads the nation in scoring, averaging 23.6 points per game. She also ranks 11th in rebounding, averaging a double-double with 10.2 boards per game. The first-team All-Crossroads league selection is a 50% shooter with range inside and out, collecting 57 three-pointers on the year. She rounds out her game with an 83% mark at the free-throw line, where she spent plenty of time during the regular season hitting 150 of 180 attempts.
 
Bradbury is joined by a pair of All-Conference teammates in Seniors Cassidy Wyse and Josie Cobb, the pair of guards combine to average over 24 points per game and have hit over 50 three-pointers apiece.
 
Tournament Outlook
 
Should the Beacons get out of the first-round, the tournament road won't get any easier with a potential match-up against No. 2 ranked Concordia University of Nebraska in the second round, Friday at 3:30 pm CST. The Bulldogs are 32-1 on the season and a strong contender to win their first NAIA championship as one of the four No. 1 seeds. The Liston Bracket also includes No. 8 Jamestown, No. 9 Indiana Tech, and No. 23 Bryan with the two, three, and six seeds respectively.

The Beacons have two fellow Cascade Collegiate Conference teams joining them in the tournament. No. 6 Eastern Oregon grabbed a 2-seed in the Duer Bracket and play Thursday morning at 10:15 am against Reinhardt College. No. 10 ranked Southern Oregon earned a three-seed in the Naismith Bracket and draws California Pacific Conference champion Antelope Valley on Wednesday evening, tipping off at 9:15 p.m.