KANSAS CITY, Mo. – [Video Announcement | 1^st & 2^nd Round Schedule Page | Bracket] The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially announced the teams and bracket for the 2024 NAIA Women’s Basketball Championship First Round presented by Ballogy. The 64-team bracket will begin with the first and second rounds at host sites nationwide on March 15-16. The 2024 NAIA second round winners will meet in Sioux City, Iowa, at the NAIA National Championship final site presented by Bomgaars and Sterling. The 43^rd annual championship occurs at the Tyson Events Center from March 21-22.

This year’s first round field includes 37 automatic qualifiers and 27 at-large selections. Automatic berths were given to teams that either won their respective conference tournament title or regular season championship, finished runner-up at the conference tournament or were otherwise selected by the conference. The NAIA Women’s Basketball National Selection Committee determined the at-large bids. The selection committee consists of one representative from each geographical area and six at-large members consisting of coaches and administrators from around the country.

All first and second round games will be streamed by the host and may be produced on various platforms.  

The NAIA Network – the association’s official video streaming home – will broadcast all Round of 16, quarterfinal and semifinal games live in Sioux City at the 2024 NAIA Women’s Basketball Championship final site. While the championship will be streamed exclusively on ESPN3. Single-day passes on the NAIA Network can be purchased for $9.95, while an all-championship tournament package is available at $34.95. For more information and to pre-register, CLICK HERE.

Qualifier Highlights

• Campbellsville (Ky.) and Wayland Baptist (Texas) enter the 2024 field with the most appearances, with 32 and 31, respectively.
• Ten teams have recorded between 20 and 29 appearances in the tournament: College of the Ozarks (Mo.) 28, Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 27, Georgetown (Ky.) 27, Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 26, Vanguard (Calif.) 25, Concordia (Neb.) 23, Xavier (Ill.) 23, Indiana Wesleyan 21, Columbia (Mo.) 20 and Northwestern (Iowa) 20.
• Six teams are qualifying for the first time: Embry-Riddle (Ariz.), Fisk (Tenn.), Florida National, Governors State (Ill.), Stephens (Mo.) and Williams Baptist (Ark.).
• Spring Arbor (Mich.) enters the tournament field with the longest drought since its last appearance in 1999.
• The Great Plains Athletic Conference leads all conferences with six qualifying teams. The Golden State Athletic Conference, Mid-South Conference, and Sooner Athletic Conference follow with five teams each.
• Forty teams in the tournament field also qualified for the 2023 championship.
• Seven teams in the tournament field have won at least one title, while three of those teams have won multiple titles: Vanguard (Calif.) 1, Concordia (Neb.) 1, Clarke (Iowa) 1, Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 1, Indiana Wesleyan 2, Marian (Ind.) 2, Northwestern (Iowa) 5.
• Northwestern (Iowa) and Marian (Ind.) are the only teams in the tournament field that have won back-to-back titles. Northwestern (Iowa) in 2010, 2011 and 2012 and Marian (Ind.) in 2016, 2017.
• The defending national champions, Clarke (Iowa), returns to the tournament field.
• There are no undefeated teams in the tournament field.
• Marian (Ind.) enters the tournament field with the largest win streak this season, with 28 consecutive wins. LSU Shreveport (La.) follows with 27 consecutive wins.