Game Time... GPAC rivals collide on the national stage as Northwestern and Concordia play in Monday's first semifinal at the NAIA D-II Women's Basketball National Championship. Tip-off at the Tyson Event Center is scheduled for 6:05pm. Both teams are No.1 seeds in their respective brackets; Northwestern comes in with a 29-4 record, Concordia 33-3. 

Follow the game live via these different options:  Live Stats | KSOU broadcast | NAIA Video (fee required)

Championship Schedule | 

The Rivalry...Monday's game will be the 61st meeting between the two rivals with Concordia holding a 25-35 advantage in the series. The Bulldogs have had the upper hand of late winning eight of the last 10 match-ups. The teams split this season, winning on their respective home courts. 

Northwestern and Concordia have met just once at the national tournament, last year, when the Red Raiders lost in the semifinals 84-77.

The teams split this season; Concordia def. NW on Jan. 5, 93-85; NW returned the favor, defeating CNC at home on Feb. 2, 81-75

    By the Numbers from the two games:
    Northwestern - 83ppg                        Concordia - 84ppg
                            48% FG                                        43% FG
                            +18 reb                                         forced 29 turnovers/game
                            16 3pters (37%)                            17 3pters (38%)

        Kassidy De Jong - 20.5ppg, 4 3pters, 10.5 rpg        Taylor Cockerill - 19.5ppg, 1.5rgp, 5 steals
        Haley Birks - 11ppg, 5.5rpg                                       Philly Lammers - 13.5ppg, 4.5rpg
        Sammy Blum - 10ppg, 3 3pters                                Grace Barry - 11.5ppg, 5 apg
        Anna Kiel - 10ppg, 7rpg                                            Mackenzie Koepke - 11.5ppg, 7/10 3pt

How They Qualified...The Red Raiders earned the first of nine at-large bids into the 32-team field and are one of six teams from the Great Plains Athletic Conference, most of all leagues, in this year's field.

Concordia, the No.1 overall seed, earned one of the two auto bids from the Great Plains Athletic Conference by winning the regular season title. They also won the postseason championship and like NWC, are one of the six teams from the GPAC in the 32-field.

Championship History...Northwestern is making its third straight and 16th overall appearance at the championship, owning a 55-11 overall record, the most wins at the championship. The Red Raiders are a perfect 16-0 in the opening round. They have won five titles, also the most in the history of the championship, and reached the semifinals last season before losing to Concordia. Northwestern is playing in its 11 semifinal, posting a 6-4 record at this stage. 

    1999: 1-1
    2000: 4-1 (runner-up)
    2001: 5-0 (championship)
    2002: 2-1 (quarters)
    2006: 3-1 (semi's)
    2007: 1-1
    2008: 5-0 (championship)
    2009: 3-1 (semi's)
    2010: 5-0 (championship)
    2011: 5-0 (championship)
    2012: 5-0 (championship)
    2013: 3-1 (semi's)
    2014: 2-1 (quarters)
    2017: 1-1
    2018: 3-1 (semi's)
    2019: 3-0

Concordia is playing in its eighth straight and 18th overall national championship, owning an overall record of 31-17 coming into Monday night's game. The Bulldogs have been the national runner-up twice, losing the title to Morningside in 2015 and last year to DWU. This will their sixth semifinal where they are 2-3. 

Scouting Reports...

    No.1 Concordia Bulldogs: 19-3 (1st), 33-3 overall                Head Coach: Drew Olson (13th year)

Concordia has won 10 straight heading into Monday's semifinal, having not lost since the Red Raiders defeated them 81-75 on Feb. 2. The Bulldogs shared the GPAC regular season title with Northwestern and then won the postseason title as well where they defeated DWU on Feb. 26. Concordia is 33-3 on the year.

The Bulldogs eased their way to a 100-62 win over Wilberforce in the first round but were then pushed by Cardinal Stritch in the second round, rallying from a fourth quarter deficit to defeat CSU 82-71. They raced out to a huge halftime lead (43-24) before playing even with Indiana Tech in the second half, winning 75-53.

Olson, in his 13th season as the Bulldogs head coach, was named the GPAC Coach of the Year after guiding his team to the regular and postseason titles last season, going 19-1 in conference play. He led Concordia to a national runner-up finish, losing to Dakota Wesleyan in the title game, to finish 36-2. Three starters, including two All-Americans, and seven players return from last year's team. 

By the Numbers: (NAIA rank if top 10)
    Scoring Offense: 86.9ppg (3rd)
    Scoring Defense: 64.8ppg 
    Field Goal Percentage: 43% 
    3pt Percentage: 31%, 319 3pters 
    Free Throw Percentage: 72% 
    Rebound Margin: +1 

Concordia leads the NAIA with 723 steals and turnovers forced (30); two Bulldog players rank among the top 10 in the NAIA in steals

Top Players:  
    Taylor Cockerill (2x All-Conference) -  15.6ppg, 77 3pters, 36% 3pt, 4rpg
    Philomena Lammers (2x All-American, GPAC Player of Year) - 14.5ppg, 59% FG (7th), 6.2rpg, 45 blocks, 93 steals (8th)
    Grace Barry - 11.2ppg, 206 assists (2nd), 134 steals (1st)
    Quinn Wragge (2x All-American, 4x all-conf) - 10.3ppg, 5.2rpg, 67 steals
    
No.4 Northwestern Red Raiders: 19-3 (T1st), 29-4        Head Coach: Chris Yaw (8th year)

Northwestern was the GPAC co-regular season champion. along with Concordia, going 19-3 in league play. They lost to Dakota Wesleyan in the conference semifinals and received the first at-large bid into the 32-team championship.

Five Red Raiders received all-conference honors, led by Kassidy De Jong and Darbi Gustafson with first team accolades. Haley Birkswas a second team pick and both Anna Kiel and Sammy Blum were honorable mention.

Wins over Olivet Nazarene (93-80) and Indiana Wesleyan (83-70) in the first two rounds preceded a thrilling 71-70 come-from-behind win over No.2 College of Ozarks in Saturday's quarterfinal. The Red Raiders trailed by 17 with four minutes left in the third before rallying in the fourth. Darbi Gustafson hit the game-winner on a pass from Sammy Blum off an inbounds play with 1.2 seconds left. 

Northwestern is 6-4 in the semifinals, winning in 2000, 2001, 2008, 2010-12 and losing in 2006, 2009, 2013 and 2018.

Kassidy De Jong ranks sixth all-time in career scoring (2,231pts), fifth in rebounding (949), 24th in assists (225)

Darbi Gustafson is now 12th in career scoring (1,505pts), seventh in rebounding (859), seventh in blocks (104)

Haley Birks is 19th in scoring (1,332), T25th in rebounding (553), fifth in blocks (132)

Sammy Blum has hit 111 3pters for her career

Anna Kiel is the newest and 45th player in program history to score 750 points; she is now 44th in career scoring (773)

By the Numbers: (NAIA rank-if top 10)
    Scoring Offense: 84.0ppg (4th)
    Scoring Defense: 63.9ppg
    Field Goal Percentage: 48% (1st)
    3pt Percentage: 38% (5th), 259 3pters 
    Free Throw Percentage: 75% 
    Rebound Margin: +11 (1st)

Top Players: (GPAC rank / NAIA rank-if top 10) *returning starter
     *Kassidy De Jong (3x All-American) 18.2ppg, 70 3pters, 7.9rpg, 11 double-doubles
     *Darbi Gustafson (3x All-Conference) 14.8ppg, 52%, 7.8rpg, 36 blocks, 11 double-doubles    
     *Haley Birks (3x All-Conference) 12.2ppg, 86 FT %, 3.8rpg
     Sammy Blum - 10.9ppg, 82 3pters, 46% 3pt (1st), 121 assists 
     Anna Kiel - 10.1ppg, 66% FG, 5.3rpg
     Breana Schuiteman - 7.1ppg, 49 3pters