SIOUX CITY, IA – The No. 25 LC State Women’s Basketball is looking for a long stay in Sioux City, Iowa, when the 2025 NAIA Women’s Basketball First and Second Rounds, presented by Ballogy, kick off on Friday. The winner of the First and Seconds pod hosted by Briar Cliff (Iowa) will remain in Sioux City as one of the final 16 teams in the national tournament. Third-seeded Briar Cliff is the host of the pod in the Duer Quadrant with the Warriors as the No. 6 seed. LC State will take on 11th-seeded Columbia (Mo.) after Briar Cliff faces 14th-seeded Spring Arbor (Mich.).
Action starts on Friday, Mar. 14, with Briar Cliff and Spring Arbor at 4 p.m. PT. The Warriors will face the Cougars at 6 p.m. PT.
See previews of each team below.
No. 6 Seed – LC State Warriors (25-6, 17-5)
The LC State Warriors earned an automatic bid into the national tournament with a runner-up finish to No. 2 Southern Oregon in the Cascade Conference tournament. The Warrior women are making their seventh straight appearance in the national tournament and 27th overall.
LC State has been one of the best ball handling teams in the NAIA this season and led the CCC in blocked shots per game (5.0), assists per game (17.0), steals per game (12.6) and turnover margin (6.6). The Warriors have also been a challenging defense for opposing teams with a strong scoring defense (54.0), field goal percentage defense (.359) and scoring margin (19.5).
Ellie Sander, Darian Herring and Sitara Byrd led the Warriors with First-Team All-CCC nods while Payton Hymas earned honorable mention honors.
Sander led the conference in steals this season with 94 and was seventh in scoring with her team-leading 13.6 points per game. The senior was fourth in the conference in field goal percentage at .508. As a guard, Sander is second on the team in blocks with 23 and third in assists with 78. Heading into the national tournament she is shooting .797 (51-for-64) from the free throw line.
Herring has been a defensive menace for LC State and is shattering records as just a sophomore. With seven blocks in the CCC title game, she leads the entire NAIA in blocks with 88. The mark is 10 more than the previous single-season record at LC State set in 2011-12. Herring was second in the Cascade Conference in field goal percentage (.548) and fourth in assists with 106. Heading into the national tournament, she is averaging 10 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. She recorded the first triple-double in school history, male or female, this season when she totaled 16 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.
Byrd has been a key piece of both the offense and defense for LC State and was fourth in the CCC in 3-point percentage (.416). The junior is averaging 10.7 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Byrd is second on the team in steals (75) and is shooting .489 from the field which ranked in the top 10 of the conference. Hymas was fourth in the Cascade in assists per game (4.0) and has 105 this season despite missing five games. She is averaging 9.1 points per game and has 52 steals on the season. Hymas is shooting .418 from the field.
No. 3 Seed – Briar Cliff Chargers (26-5, 18-4)
Briar Cliff earned a national tournament bid after finishing as the runner-up in the GPAC tournament. The Chargers are making their 17th appearance in the national tournament and fourth consecutive.
The Chargers had five players earn All-GPAC honors. Mallie McNair and Adrianna Webster were named First-Team All-GPAC while Kennedy Benne was named Second-Team All-GPAC. Grace Flanagan and Rachel Langel were named honorable mention.
McNair ranked fifth in the GPAC in points per game with 16.4 while shooting 46% from the field and 43% from 3-point range. Webster averaged 11.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per contest in the regular season and was fourth in the conference with 78 steals and third in blocks with 37.
Benne averaged 11 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game during the season and was second in the GPAC with 97 steals. She led the conference at the free throw line with a clip of 91.3%. Flanagan averaged 9.6 points per game and shot 43% from three-point land with 77 made. Langel averaged 7.8 points per game and 4.8 rebounds per contest.
No. 11 Seed – Columbia Cougars (28-3, 19-3)
Columbia College earned its fourth straight American Midwest Conference title to punch its ticket to the national tournament. The Cougars are making their 10th straight NAIA tournament appearance and 21st in school history.
Columbia had six players earn All-AMC honors, highlighted by Ashtyn Klusmeyer being named the Freshman of the Year and co-Sixth Woman of the Year. She was named to the All-Freshman Team after shooting 46% from the floor with 8.2 points per game.
Mallory Shetley earned first-team honors was All-Defensive Team honors in the same season she became the program’s leading scorer with 2,122 points. She is averaging 16.9 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game while shooting 52.5% from the field. Lexi Miller was named Second-Team All-AMC after leading the conference with 66 3-pointers. She averaged just under 15 points per game with 40 assists.
Mya Miller earned third-team honors with a team-high 7.6 rebounds per game. Abby Backes leads the team with 109 assists and Tori Rubel is averaging 7.4 points per game. Both earned honorable mention honors.
No. 14 Seed – Spring Arbor (19-11, 11-7)
The Spring Arbor Cougars are making their second straight appearance and sixth overall in the national tournament, doing so as an at-large selection out of the Crossroads League.
Three SAU players earned All-CL honors with Alana Nelson named to the first team. Nelson led Spring Arbor in scoring for the third consecutive year averaging a career-high 21.7 points per game which ranked first in the conference. The senior forward also led the team with 10.5 rebounds per game which was the second-best mark in the league.
Megan Zeitz and Sydney Aunins earned honorable mention honors. Zeitz started all 30 games and averaged 11.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and a team-best 2.7 assists per game. Aunins averaged 8.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.
THE DETAILS
All games at Briar Cliff will be streamed on the school’s streaming portal at a cost. The game will be carried locally on the radio with the link on the women’s basketball schedule page. The Warriors take on Columbia at 6 p.m. PT and the winner will move on to the NAIA Second Round on Saturday at 2 p.m. PT.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.
