NAIA National Tournament Selection Show Set for Wednesday

PUC-PeregrinsThe Purdue University Calumet women’s basketball team will learn its postseason fate when the NAIA Division II National Championship qualifiers are released Wednesday afternoon.

At 3 p.m. (CT) Wednesday, the Top 25 poll and National Championship qualifiers will be released and posted on www.NAIA.org. The championship bracket will follow via a live video selection show on www.NAIANetwork.com, with the bracket released on NAIA.org at approximately 7:30 p.m.

The Peregrines, ranked No. 21 in the Feb. 24 NAIA Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, finished the season with a 21-8 overall record and a berth in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals, where they lost to eventual tourney champ, No. 6 Cardinal Stritch (27-7).

They hope to earn an at-large berth, as both Stritch and CCAC regular-season champion No. 4 Saint Xavier (29-3) both earned the conference’s automatic bids to the national tournament. Also hoping to gain an at-large bid from the CCAC is No. 16 Robert Morris (21-6), which fell to Saint Francis (Ill.) in the CCAC quarterfinals but won the head-to-head matchup with the Peregrines, 71-64, back on Jan. 10.

If Purdue Calumet earns a bid, it will mark the third-straight national berth for the women’s team, which won its first-ever tournament game last season en route to a spot in the Sweet Sixteen. The Peregrines defeated Oregon Tech, 83-75, before losing to national runner-up Davenport (34-2) in the Round of 16.

The only other national tournament berth in program history came during the 1995-96 season, when Purdue Calumet finished 27-5 under head coach Gary Hayes.