via Oregon Tech Athletic Communications
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the second time this season, the Oregon Tech women’s basketball team will head to the Volunteer State, as the Lady Owls earned an at-large bid to the NAIA Women’s Basketball National Tournament.
The No. 8-seed Owls (19-11) will head to McKenzie, Tenn., earning a first-round date next Friday with Huntington University of Indiana – live on 104.3 & 960 Sports.
Host Bethel University (25-5) earned the top-seed in the Duer Quadrant and will meet Talladega College of Alabama (18-8) in the other first-round match-up.
The Foresters (18-11), from the Crossroads League, ended a 10-year tournament drought last season, advancing to the second-round of the 2025 event. The current team looks to snap a 4-game losing streak to end the regular season, looking for production from a stellar front line – as 6-foot forward Addie Shank (10.6 ppg, 8.5 rpg), 6-foot-1 forward Annaka Nelson (12.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg) and 6-foot-1 forward Liv Raby (13.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg) key the HU attack.
No. 1-seed Wildcats are coming off a national semifinal appearance in 2025, beginning the 2026 season with a perfect 11-0 record, with their only losses coming in the rigorous Mid-South Conference. MSC Player of the Year, Micah Hart (18.4 ppg, 6.0 rpg) anchors an offense averaging 73 points a game, with forwards Mikee Buchanan (15.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg) and Madison Hart (14.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg) All-MSC picks.
The Tornadoes are making their first tournament appearance since 2022 after reaching the HBCU Athletic Conference Tournament final. TC is paced by forward Ceara Myers (13.6 ppg, 8.3 rpg) and guard Teanna Watts (11.1 ppg, 3.8 rpg).
Tech heads to the tournament for the ninth time and are making their third-straight appearance – looking for their fourth first-round win (2016, 2019, 2024).
Five other Cascade Conference teams advanced to the tournament – including Corban (No. 3-seed in Wichita, Kan.), Lewis-Clark State (No. 4-seed in Lewiston, Idaho), Eastern Oregon (No. 6-seed in Mitchell, S.D.), College of Idaho (No. 7-seed in Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Southern Oregon (No. 9-seed in Sioux Center, Iowa).
