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The women’s basketball team is aiming for its eighth national championship and second title in a row starting with a first-round game against Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) at 1:45 p.m. March 18 in the NAIA Division 1 women’s basketball tournament at the Independence Events Center.
Seven-time national champion Oklahoma City owns national championships in 1988, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2012 and 2014. The second-ranked Stars (25-2) took one of the tournament’s four No. 1 seeds.
OCU earned its national-tournament bid by winning the Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season title, gaining one of the league’s two automatic berths. The Stars reached the NAIA Tournament for the 18th consecutive year and 21st time overall. OCU has a 61-13 record in the NAIA Tournament to rank second all-time in tournament history in wins. Union (Tenn.) ranks No. 1 with 67 wins.
“I’m excited to play anyone at this point,” Coach Latricia Trammell said. “Getting your named called out is the most important thing. We are just excited to be a part and play.”
Senior Rateska Brown reeled in the SAC player of the year and conference newcomer of the year awards. She posts 19.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.78 steals per contest. She ranks 10th nationally in scoring average, fifth at 3.22 3-pointers per game and ninth with 87 treys made. She took the SAC Tournament most valuable player honor.
Trammell took SAC coach of the year acclaim for the second time in three years. She has guided OCU to an 80-10 record in three years.
Senior Ouleymatou Coulibaly became a first-team all-SAC performer. Coulibaly has provided OCU with 15.2 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.04 steals per game this season. Her 4.5 offensive rebounds a game ranks fourth in the NAIA.
Senior Yvonte Neal picked up second-team all-conference accolades. She accumulates 14.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.46 thefts a game. She hits 2.36 3s a game to rank 26th in the NAIA.
Senior Marisha Wallace pulled in third-team all-SAC, and senior Janay Borum was an honorable-mention all-league selection while leading the NAIA with 7.3 assists a contest. Among the NAIA, OCU tops the NAIA in assists (18.5 a game) and third in rebounding margin (plus-12.30 per game). The Stars sat No. 2 in the final rankings entering the tournament.
Lewis-Clark State made the national tournament by virtue of the No. 16 at-large berth. Tanis Fuller, a senior guard, leads the Lewis-Clark with 16.1 points a game. The Warriors (21-10) fell 86-80 to Great Falls (Mont.) in the Frontier Conference Tournament quarterfinals on March 3 in Great Falls, Mont.
Session tickets are $10 each for general admission, $7 for students, $5 for children aged 5-11 and free to children 5 and under. Tickets can be purchased by going here.
Stretch Internet, the NAIA’s official video streaming company of select NAIA national championship events, will be broadcasting the first 30 games from Independence. An all-tournament pass (30 games) is available for $20. For more information and to pre-register, click here.
ESPN3 will show the NAIA Division I women’s basketball tournament championship game live 6:30 p.m. CDT on March 24.
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