MACU Athletics
Tim Shay, Sports Information Director
WINONA LAKE, Ind. – As the 2019 National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Division I women’s basketball national championship draws near, the Mid-America Christian University Evangels left for Indiana on Sunday, hoping to complete a defense of their national title from a year ago. The Evangels are once again the tournament’s top seed, and the first round foe is a familiar one as well.
MACU (22-9) will open their title defense the same way they opened the tournament a year ago, taking on Yellowstone Christian College (12-6) in the quarterfinal round.
MACU is the top seed at the Championship, which not only gets them a date with the eighth-seeded Centurions in the first game, but that will be the final game of the day on Wednesday, March 13. The teams are slated to tip off at 8:15 p.m. CDT, with the winner of the game scheduled to turn around and play again in a little less than 24 hours at 7:45 p.m. on Thursday. The loser of the game will have a shorter turn around time than that, as they will have to play at 12:45 p.m.
The Evangels and Centurions are paired with the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds in the bracket, the Bluefield College (Va.) Rams (16-16) and the host Grace College (Ind.) Lancers (16-15), respectively. The losers of the games designated game three and game four in the bracket will meet in the backdraw, while the winners will tip off against each other in the second semifinal.
The opposite side of the bracket will feature the Brewton-Parker College (Ga.) Barons (17-12), the Roberts Wesleyan College (N.Y.) RedHawks (14-15), the Hiwassee College (Tenn.) Tigers (22-4), and the Judson University (Ill.) Eagles (15-15).
Depending on the results of Wednesday and Thursday’s action, the Evangels will either play their final game of the season on Friday or Saturday. If the Evangels are playing for fifth or seventh place, the game will take place on Friday, while if they are playing for the title or for third place, their final contest will be on Saturday.
Live Video will be provided on a pay-per-view basis through Tourbeau Sports Group, while live stats will be offered free of charge courtesy of Grace College Sports Information. All links as well as the bracket, game times, and information about all involved teams can be found on the official Championship page at www.thenccaa.org/tournaments/?id=473&path=wbball.