The season isn’t over yet for the Willamette University women’s basketball team.
Despite being upset in the semifinals of the conference tournament it hosted, the Bearcats received an at-large bid Monday to the NCAA Division III women’s basketball tournament.
“I am so excited for this team,” Willamette coach Peg Swadener said in a press release. “We’ve had such a great season, and I’m so proud that the National Committee recognized us for the success we showed through the entire season.”
The Bearcats (17-9) will play Millikin University (22-5) on Friday in the first round of the 64-team tournament at host Wisconsin-Whitewater.
First- and second-round games are played on the campus of a participating institution. Wisconsin-Whitewater (22-4) plays Minnesota-Morris (17-10) in the first round, with the winner facing the Willamette-Millikin winner. Millikin is in Decatur, Illinois.
The Bearcats will be playing in their first NCAA Division III tournament. The program’s only other national tournament appearance was in 1995-96 at the NAIA Division II level.
Puget Sound (19-8), which upset Willamette in the semifinals of the Northwest Conference Tournament, will play Carroll of Wisconsin (23-4), which hosts first- and second-round games.
The Loggers received the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Division III tournament.
Capi Lynn is a senior reporter for the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions and tips to her at clynn@statesmanjournal.com, or follow her work on Twitter @CapiLynn and Facebook @CapiLynnSJ.
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Willamette gets at-large bid to NCAA Division III women’s tournament
