Game Time...GPAC rivals collide with a trip to the National Championship game at stake as 11th-ranked Northwestern matches up against No.2 Concordia (Neb.) in the second semifinal game on Monday night at the NAIA D-II Women's Basketball National Championship in Sioux City, Iowa. Tip-off at the Tyson Events Center is scheduled for 8pm. Northwestern, ranked 11th in the final poll and a No.3 seed, is 25-8 on the season. Concordia, ranked second in the final poll and a No.1 seed, brings an NAIA-best 35-1 record into Monday night's semifinal.
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All-Time...Northwestern has lost six straight games to the Bulldogs and is just 2-8 over the last 10 match-ups, dropping both games played this season. Northwestern is 24-27 all-time against Concordia since the 1987-88 season.
Earlier This Season...The Red Raiders dropped both of the previous meetings played against Concordia this season, losing 84-80 on Dec. 15 in Orange City and again on Feb. 3 by the score of 80-67.Â
  Game 1 Recap:    Game 2 Recap:
  By the numbers in the two previous games:
          NW-73.5 ppg                              CNC-82ppg
               46% FG                                        43%
               29% 3pt (11/38)                             28% (15/54)
               81% (42/52)                                    74% (39/53)
               Reb: 36 (even)                               Reb: 36 (even)
               TO: 40                                             TO: 26
              Ind:                                                  Ind:
              De Jong: 16.5ppg, 5.5rpg                 Philomena Lammers: 16ppg, 6rpg
              Maneman: 16ppg, 9apg                  Quinn Wragge: 15.5ppg, 61% FG
              Kiel: 10.5ppg, 7rpg, 60%                 Dani Hoppes: 13.5ppg, 7 3pters, 39% 3pt
              Gustafson: 9ppg, 5.5rpg                  Taylor Cockeril: 11ppg, 7rpg
              Birks: 6ppg, 3rpg                             Colby Duvel: 8.5ppg, 5.5rpg
              Danner: 5ppg, 2.5rpg                      Mary Janovich: 7.5ppg, 8 assists
Championship History..Northwestern is in its 15th appearance at the NAIA D-II Women's Basketball National Championship, tied with Indiana Wesleyan and Morningside for fifth most among this year's 32-team field. This is the Red Raiders second consecutive appearance, losing to Southeastern (Fla.) in the second round after upsetting Southern Oregon in the first game last season. Northwestern has won the most championships (5) and is the active wins leader, boasting a 48-9 overall record. The Red Raiders won the championship in 2001, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012. This is the Red Raiders 10th trip to the national semifinals and first since the 2012-13 season. They are 6-3 all-time in the semi's, advancing to the title game in 2000, 2001, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012.
This is Concordia's 17th trip to the NAIA D-II championship and the Bulldogs have a 27-16 all-time record at the D-II event. Concordia won the GPACÂ regular season title to earn an automatic bid into the championship. They have qualified for the championship seven straight and 10 of the last 11 seasons. The Bulldogs' best showing was a runner-up finish in 2015, losing to Morningside 59-57 in the title game. This the fifth semifinal appearance, owning a 1-3 record at this round; lost to Saint Xavier last year (91-83), defeated Briar Cliff in 2015 (72-62), lost to College of the Ozarks in 2012 (74-70) and lost to Cedarville in 2005 (86-73).
Championship Format...The 32-team field  is made up of 22 automatic berths and 10 at-large selections. Automatic qualification is given to conference regular-season champions, tournament champions or tournament runners-up depending on the conference. At-large teams were determined using the final regular-season Coaches' Top 25 Poll.
How They Got Here...Northwestern def. Friends (81-74), Eastern Oregon (83-60) and St. Francis (89-83) to get to Monday's semifinal.
Concordia defeated Stillman in the opening round (75-52), Taylor in the second (71-50) and the University of Jamestown in the quarters (79-61.Â
No.1 Concordia Bulldogs: 19-1 (1st), 35-1Â Â Â Â Â Head Coach: Drew Olson (12th year)
 Concordia has the most wins among NAIA D-II ranks, owning a 35-1 overall record.They have won 11 straight games since losing to Midland, 86-77, in its only loss of the season on Jan. 31. The Bulldogs won both the GPAC regular and postseason titles, completing the conference season with a 19-1 record.
  Olson, the 2018 GPAC Coach of the Year, is closing in on the 300-win milestone in his 12th season on the Concordia bench. Olson has guided the Bulldogs to six straight NAIA D-II National Championship appearances, reaching the national semifinals three times. He returns four starters and eight players from a 2016-17 team that won the GPAC regular season title with a 19-1 record and finished 34-3 overall, losing to St.Xavier in the quarterfinals.
By the Numbers: (GPACÂ rank /Â NAIA rank-if top 10)
    Scoring Offense: 88ppg (1st / 2nd)
    Scoring Defense: 65.3ppg (3rd)
    Field Goal Percentage: 45% (3rd)
    3pt Percentage: 34% (6th), 377 3pters (1st / 2nd)Â
    Free Throw Percentage: 72% (7th)
    Rebound Margin: 5 (4th)
  TO-17/game...force 24/game
Top Players:Â Â (GPACÂ rank /Â NAIA rank-if top 10)
  Quinn Wragge (3x all-GPAC) 13.1ppg, 5.2rpg, 62% (1st / 4th) 65 assists
  Philomena Lammers (All-American; 2x All-GPAC; 2017 Freshman of the Year) 13.3ppg, 8.4rpg (1st), 46 blocks, 89 steals
  Brenleigh Daum (All-GPAC) 10.2ppg, 81 3pters (6th)
    Dani Hoppes (2x All-GPAC) 9.8ppg, 84 3pters
  Taylor Cockerill (All-Conference) 8.9ppg, 4rpg
  Mary Janovich (2017 All-American, 3x All-GPAC)  8.9ppg, 30 3pters, 80 assistsÂ
11th-ranked / No.3 seed Northwestern College: 16-4 (T2nd), 25-8    Head Coach: Chris Yaw (7th year)
The 25-wins by Northwestern is the most since the 2013-14 season and is the 16th time the Red Raiders have won at least 20 games in a season, the fifth under the guidance of coach Yaw. The 25 wins is the 11th most all-time. They finished tied with Dakota Wesleyan for second place in the conference regular season with a 16-4 record and then lost to the Tigers in the conference semifinals. They earned the second of 10 at-large bids into the championship.
Yaw has guided Red Raider teams to the national tournament in five of his seven seasons and has made it to at least the second round in each of those years.Â
By the Numbers:Â (GPACÂ rank /Â NAIA rank-if top 10)
    Scoring Offense: 78.8ppg (4th)
    Scoring Defense: 66ppg (4th)
    Field Goal Percentage: 48% (2nd /4th)
    3pt Percentage: 32% (6th), 191 3pters (8th)
    Free Throw Percentage: 76% (3rd)
    Rebound Margin: 10 (2nd / 6th)
Top Players: (GPACÂ rank /Â NAIA rank-if top 10) *returning starter
  *Kassidy De Jong (2x All-American) 17.2ppg (2nd), 8.2pg (2nd), 50 assists
   *Darbi Gustafson (3x All-Conference) 14.2ppg (6th), 7.6rpg (4th), 58% (2nd / 10th)
   Anna Kiel (2x All-Conference) 13.9ppg, 62% FG, 6rpg
  *Renee Maneman (3x All-Conference) 11.1ppg, 3.8rpg, 276 assists (1st /1st)
   *Haley Birks (2x All-Conference) 8ppg, 4.5rpg, 39 blocks (4th)  Â
     *Paige Danner 6.8ppg, 45 3pters, 35% 3pt FGÂ
De Jong moved into 10th place all-time in career scoring in the win vs Friends; now totals 1,615pts
De Jong has scored in double figures in 30 games played this season; 10 double-doubles
Gustafson became the 32nd player in women's program to score 1,000 points; reaching the milestone vs Friends
Gustafson has scored in double figures in 27 games this season; 11 double-doubles
Maneman became the 33rd player in program history to score 1,000 points, reaching the milestone in the win over St.Francis
Maneman has 19 games with 10 points and 12 games with 10 assists, 7 double-doubles
Danner scored her 750th point in the win over Eastern Oregon
Kiel has scored 20 -points in every game at the championship
