SEWARD, Neb. – A first in the history of Concordia University, Nebraska Athletics will take place this March. On Thursday (Feb. 29), the NAIA announced Concordia as one of 16 host sites for the first and second rounds of the 2024 NAIA Women’s Basketball National Championship. The Concordia University Women’s Basketball team will be joined by three fellow NAIA qualifiers at Friedrich Arena for national tournament play the weekend of March 15-16.
Said Director of Athletics Devin Smith, “We are thrilled Concordia University. Nebraska has been named one of sixteen hosts for the 2023-24 NAIA Women’s Basketball National Tournament – First/Second Rounds. Bulldog Athletics strives to provide a premier student-athlete and shareholder experience when administering events on our campus, no matter what is on the line. We are built to successfully host these three national tournament games inside the beautiful Walz Human Performance Complex on March 15-16. We are elated for our team and Coach Drew Olson to have this unique opportunity to compete inside the friendly confines of Friedrich Arena during this year’s national tournament. This is another first in the history of our women’s basketball program and Bulldog Athletics as we come together to share the national stage right here in Seward, Nebraska. We look forward to welcoming the NAIA’s finest student-athletes, coaches, and fans to our campus and the greater Seward community.”
The NAIA first began designating campus sites for first and second round games at the national tournament when NAIA basketball merged from two divisions to one. In previous years, the Bulldog Women’s Basketball team has played first/second round national tournament games in Park City, Kan. (2021), Bowling Green, Ky. (2022) and Crestview Hills, Ky. (2023). When Concordia first qualified for the national tournament in 1992, it played in Monmouth, Ore. It then went to nationals in Angola, Ind., in 1997 before the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa, became the national championship destination for every tournament game played from 1998 through 2020. In other words, the 2024 tournament will mark the first time Seward has ever been a national tournament site.
Official national tournament qualifiers will be announced by the NAIA on March 7. On that date, Concordia will learn which three teams will join it in Seward for first and second round action. The NAIA will announce the teams via a live selection show on YouTube.
Tickets for the NAIA national tournament first and second round games hosted by Concordia will go on sale once the qualifiers are announced on March 7 and can be purchased online via HomeTown Ticketing. Each of the winners from the 16 host sites advance to play at the NAIA National Championship final site, the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa.