(6) Thunderbirds Open Tournament Play Against (11) Wake Tech Eagles
Sunday, March 13, 2022 - 9:20 pm | Derek Diesner
PORT HURON, Mich. - The 13th ranked and 6 seed Mesa Thunderbirds (22-7 overall, 15-5 ACCAC) open play in the NJCAA DII Women's Basketball Championship tournament this Tuesday morning against the 12th ranked and 11 seed Wake Tech Eagles at 9 am EST / 6 am Arizona time. This will be the first meeting between the two schools.
Full Field:
The complete 16-team bracket was announced last Tuesday. Mesa and Wake Technical will be the first game played in the tournament; which is in its first year at the SC4 Fieldhouse in Port Huron, Michigan on the campus of St. Clair County Community College.
Tournament History:
Mesa returns to the NJCAA National Tournament for the first time, since the 2017-18 season. The T-Birds took fourth place that season, after winnings their first two games and then dropping their final two.
In 2020, Wake Tech qualified for the tournament for the first time in program history and was seeded No. 12. Unfortunately, the 2020 Tournament never happened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
How We Got Here:
Mesa earned their automatic bid to the National Championship tournament with their 66-58 victory over 14th ranked Pima Community College this past Saturday in the Region I Division II Regional Championship. The T-Birds return to the National Tournament for the first time since the 2017-18 season, when Mesa placed fourth in the Nation following a loss to Highland Community College.
The 12th ranked Wake Tech Eagles qualified for the National Tournament by claiming one of the two spots held for the South Atlantic Region. Cape Fear; which is the 15 seed in the National Tournament, claimed the first spot for the South Atlantic Region, when they handed Wake Tech their second loss of the season in the Championship Game this past Saturday, by a final of 66-59. Wake Tech's only other loss this season came back on February 5, when they fell to (RV) USC Salkehatchie 79-61. The Eagles are one of two teams in the 16-team field that enter the tournament riding a loss; the other team is 10 seed Union County. Union County is ranked 9th in the Nation and claimed the East Region B spot, following their loss in the east regional championship to 9 seed Niagara County.
What's Next?
The winner of Tuesday's game will advance in the winner's bracket and face the winner of 3 seed CCBC Essex (32-0) and 14 seed Oakland (22-8) at 6 pm EST on Wednesday, March 16. The loser of Tuesday's game will fall into the consolation bracket and face the loser of the aforementioned CCBC Essex and Oakland game. That game is scheduled to begin at 3 pm EST on Wednesday, March 16.
Tuesday's game and all other games played at the NJCAA DII Women's Basketball Championship will be aired live on the NJCAA Network.
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