Women's D-II National Semifinals begin: Four teams face off at Civic Arena on Wednesday
Mar. 27—The 2024 NCAA Division II Women's Elite Eight continues this week, with teams all across the United States coming to St. Joseph to battle for the most prestigious title in Division II basketball, a national championship.
The tournament tipped off with the Elite Eight on Monday, and the biggest headline came from the third contest on the night, with eight-seeded Cal State San Marcos Cougars and one-seeded Gannon University Golden Knight. It took an overtime period, but the Cougars overcame the Golden Knights.
Three more teams punched their ticket to the semifinals on Wednesday: the three-seeded Ferris State Bulldogs, two-seeded Texas Woman's University Pioneers and fifth-seeded Minnesota State Mavericks.
As the teams prepare for the semifinal and national championship, fans have a chance to catch competitive basketball in their own backyard.
The first contest features Texas Woman's and Ferris State. For both teams, they will play in their first semifinal game in program history. TWU comes into the contest having won the Lone Star Conference Regular Season Title, the LSC Tournament Title and the South Central Regional Title.
On the other side, Ferris State fell in the semifinal of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament. Then, they received an at-large bid to the Midwest Regional Tournament.
A tale to watch between these two teams is rebounding, as the Pioneers are committed to being strong on the glass. They average 36.8 rebounds per game. The Bulldogs average 37.5 per game. The Pioneers will also have to stop Ferris' three-point shooting as, on average, they make 7.6 per game.
The remaining contest will be between Cal State San Marcos and Minnesota State. Minnesota State is playing in its second semifinal game. The last time the Mavericks were in the national tournament semifinal was in 2008-09. The Mavericks went on to win the National Title that season.
For CSUSM, it's the team's first trip to the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Elite Eight and semifinal. For the Cougars, Jordan Vasquez was selected as the D2CCA West Region Player of the Year, a first for the program. Vasquez is second in Division II in double-doubles with 22 in the 33 games.
As the West Region leader, Vasquez ranks sixth in the nation with 11.5 rebounds per game and fourth with 380 total rebounds.
For the Mavericks, both Natalie Bremer and Destinee Bursch have surpassed 500 points this season, becoming the 16th and 17th Mavericks to reach that number. Bursch has scored 544 points and Bremer has 523.
The national championship game will take place 7 p.m. Friday at Civic Arena.
Calvin Silvers can be reached at calvin.silvers@newspressnow.com.
