| Whitman finished 20-5, 13-3
in the Northwest Conference. The Missionaries played five
non-Division III games. Photo by Jeff Halstead, d3photography.com |
The women's bracket is out! Download it here.
Otterbein got off the bubble and into the dance, and so did Whitman.
Ithaca (gym renovations) and Montclair State (NCAA sanctions against the state of New Jersey) cannot host, and are playing in pods at Southern Maine and Lebanon Valley.
Three teams make it into the field from the Northwest Conference, and none of them are Georgia ... pardon me, George Fox. Whitworth gets a flight out of the west coast altogether, to a pod hosted all the way down in Atlanta. Whitman, the third team in from the conference, faces Cal Lutheran to open the tournament.
"We are thrilled", said Whitman coach Michelle Ferenz. "I think
our selection not only demonstrates recognition of our season but
also, on a national level that the Northwest Conference is very,
very, good in women's basketball. When you start stacking us up
against other teams for at-large bids, our strength of schedule
really carries us ahead of a lot of those other teams."
The committee seems insistent on having conference teams meet in in the Sweet 16 whenever possible. Amherst and Tufts are slated to meet in the third round, when a quick and free change could have put them together in the Elite Eight. Similarly, UW-Stevens Point and UW-Whitewater as well as Hope and Calvin could meet in the Sweet 16 rather than swapping positions in the bracket and meeting in the Elite Eight.