Women's Basketball headed back to national tournament

SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – Spring Arbor University is going dancing for the second straight year after the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics announced the 64-team field for the 2025 NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship on Thursday evening.

The tournament format features 16, four-team pods to be played at campus sites – announced last week – around the nation. The First Round games will be played on Friday, Mar. 14 with the Second Round taking place on Saturday, Mar. 15 at those campus sites.

The winners of those 16 pods advance to the national tournament final site in Sioux City, Iowa, where those games will be played over the span of a week at the Tyson Events Center from Mar. 20-25.

Spring Arbor (19-11) earned its way into the tournament as an at-large selection. The Cougars are the No. 14 seed in the Duer Quadrant and face off against No. 3 seed Briar Cliff University (Iowa) in the first round, which will be played at Briar Cliff in Sioux City, Iowa. Joining SAU and Briar Cliff in the pod are Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho), the No. 6 seed, and 11th-seeded Columbia College (Mo.).

The winners of the two Friday games meet on Saturday with a trip to the final site on the line.

Spring Arbor is making its sixth all-time trip to the national tournament. Last year was SAU's first trip appearance since the 1998-99 campaign. Head coach John Williams and the Cougars finished fourth in the Crossroads League this season and advanced to the Crossroads League Tournament Semifinals.

Briar Cliff is making its 17th appearance in the tournament and comes in with a record of 26-5. The Chargers qualified as the Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament runner-up.

Lewis-Clark State returns to the tournament for the 27th time in its program history as the Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament runner-up. The Pioneers are 25-6 overall.

Columbia, making its 21st appearance, boasts a 28-3 record and was the American Midwest Conference Tournament champion.