MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Loyola University New Orleans women's basketball team received the good news Thursday evening. The Wolf Pack earned their 12th straight bid to the NAIA National Championship tournament, receiving an at-large berth after four straight seasons of earning the Southern States Athletic Conference automatic bid.
Loyola will be a 10th seed and matchup with No. 7 Shawnee State (Ohio) in Williamsburg, Kentucky. The University of the Cumberlands is the host side for the first two rounds, serving as the No. 2 seed and playing No. 15 Eastern Oregon in the other first-round matchup. The Wolf Pack and the Bears will be the nightcap of the evening on Friday, March 14, tipping off at 7 p.m. CDT while Cumberlands and Eastern Oregon will start the day at 5 p.m. CDT.
The winners of the two games will play at 5 p.m. CDT on Saturday with a spot in the Round of 16 in Sioux City, Iowa, on the line.
The Pack finished second in the SSAC with an 11-5 league record while posting an 18-11 overall mark during the 2024-25 campaign. Alissa O'Dell and Deniya Thornton were both named to the SSAC All-Conference First Team, and Caitlin Travis made three honored with a spot on the Second Team. O'Dell was the only Wolf Pack player on the SSAC Championship All-Tournament Team as well.
Shawnee State went 27-4 overall and a perfect 16-0 in River States Conference play to win the regular season. The Bears lost in the conference tournament championship game to earn runner-up honors.
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