Taylor Headed to NAIA National Tournament
03.04.2009
It was a long 48 hours for the Taylor women's basketball team, but their hopes were realized Wednesday afternoon when the Trojans received an at-large bid to compete in the 2009 NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship.
The tournament site will be at the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena in Sioux City, Iowa on March 11-17, 2009. The official tournament bracket and Taylor's first round opponent will be released on www.naia.org by 1 p.m. EST on Thursday.
The 32-team tournament field consists of 21 automatic qualifiers and 11 at-large bids. The at-large berths were selected using the final regular season ratings that were released Wednesday and had Taylor ranked at No. 25.
The Trojans received the 10th at-large spot after finishing the season at 21-11 following an appearance in the Mid-Central College Conference Tournament Championship Game Monday.
"We are all obviously very excited," Tena Krause said Wednesday after she and her team heard the good news. "Our seniors knew what it would take to get back to this level and they put themselves in a position to make it happen."
Taylor is making its fifth trip to the NAIA National Tournament, with previous appearances coming in 1997, 1998, 2005, and 2007. The 2007 squad advanced to the Elite Eight of the national tournament before falling in the quarterfinals to top-seeded Cedarville, 64-55.
Following the Trojans' 65-60 loss to Huntington in the MCC Tournament Championship, the waiting game began. "That's been hard, especially for the seniors," Krause commented. "They've been down, but also optimistic that it would happen for them. Praise the Lord that it did."
After taking Tuesday and Wednesday off, Taylor will return to the practice court Thursday, Friday, and Saturday with their Iowa departure scheduled for Sunday afternoon.
Three other teams-Huntington, Bethel, and Indiana Wesleyan-will also be representing the MCC at the tournament.
Morningside (Iowa) was the unanimous No. 1 in the final Top 25 Poll by earning all 12 first place votes and 312 points.
Final NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Top-25 Poll
NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship Qualifiers