By Nikki Sherrill, NAIA Media Coordinator

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Two of them have been here before. The others are making history by appearing in their first NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championship semifinals. On Monday night, the final two spots will be up for grabs as all four No. 1 seeds will be on showcase in the national semifinals in Sioux City, Iowa. The two winners will advance to play for the red banner on Tuesday night at 7:04 p.m. CST, an ESPN3 production.

The defending national champion Marian (Ind.) headlines the remaining four squads as they look to become the first program to repeat since Northwestern (Iowa) earned a three-peat from 2010-12. Last season the Knights defeated No. 1 Southern Oregon 59-48 in the title match to claim their first-ever national championship. Marian, the Crossroads League regular-season and tournament champion, comes into the match at 33-3. The Knights have average a tournament-high 94 points in their three games, defeating their national championship opponents by an average of 18 points. Marian is led by Kellie Kirkhoff who is averaging just over 16 points per game this postseason. The Knights also lead the championship in assists with 22.7 per game.

The Monday night opponent for Marian will be a challenge as the No. 1 overall seed, St. Francis (Ill.) comes into the contest to attempt and take over the reign of national champion. St. Francis, who was undefeated until a stumble in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament finals, brings forward a 34-1 record – the best of the teams remaining. This is the program’s first-ever national semifinal. On the season, the Fighting Saints are 10-1 against Top 25 teams. Marian ended the regular season at No. 4 in the Coaches’ Top 25 Poll with St. Francis ended at No. 1. In their first three games of this event, the Fighting Saints have only averaged eight more points than their opponents, with their first-round matchup against No. 8 UC Merced (Calif.) sending the game into double overtime. The quarterfinals contest saw a missed 3-pointer at the buzzer from No. 3 Eastern Oregon propel St. Francis into the semifinals. The key player for the Fighting Saints will be Charnelle Reed who averages the team-high in scoring (16.7), rebounds (7.1) and steals (1.9).

Concordia, the Great Plains Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament champion, is into their fifth national semifinal and second in three years. The Bulldogs are 34-2 this season and are tied for the most wins of the remaining teams. The defense for Concordia has been a big reason for their advancement as it has forced 74 turnovers and limited their opponents to just 33 percent shooting from the floor. Concordia also ranks No. 2 in the NAIA in steals with 576 this year alone. Philly Lammers, who was named the GPAC Freshman of the Year, is averaging 12 points and nine rebounds during the championship and has been the strongest presence for the Bulldogs in their three games in Sioux City.

Saint Xavier (Ill.) was the final team to reserve their spot in Monday night’s action as they defeated crowd-favorite College of the Ozarks (Mo.) 69-53 in the quarterfinals to advance to their first-ever national semifinal. The Cougars have seen three personal record marks hit in the past two games as Kara Krolicki recorded her 2,000^th point in the second-round win over Friends (Kan.), while Brittany Collins earned her 1,000^th and senior guard Mikayla Leyden set a new school record for career assists as she hit 510. Collins owns the glass in each contest this postseason as she has pulled down 49 in just three games. The Cougars are shooting the best from the field in the national champion as they net 53.4 percent.

National Semifinal Schedule:

No. 1 St. Francis (Ill.) (34-1) vs. No. 1 Marian (Ind.) (33-3) – Monday at 6:04 p.m. on ESPN3
No. 1 Saint Xavier (Ill.) (33-2) vs. No. 1 Concordia (34-2) – Monday at 8:04 p.m. on ESPN3