KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The NAIA released the seeding and opponents on Thursday evening of the 2026 NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship First & Second Rounds, presented by Ballogy. The Wildcats will travel to Rio Grande, Ohio as the No. 10-seed in the Naismith Quadrant and will join host Rio Grande (Ohio) (2-seed), Cumberlands (Ky.) (7-seed), and Rochester Christian (Mich.) (15-seed) next week on March 13-14.
The Wildcats will make their 23rd NAIA Tournament appearance and 10th consecutive when they hit the court on Friday, March 13, against No. 7-seeded Cumberlands (Ky.).
Hosts 2-seeded Rio Grande (Ohio) enters the tournament with a 30-1 record and a 21 game win streak. The Red Storm will make their 13th tournament appearance, earning their bid as River States Conference Regular Season and Tournament champions. They will face Rochester Christian (Mich.) who come in with a 21-10 record. They are making their 4th appearance in the tournament, earning a bid as the WHAC rtournament runner-ups. IWU's first round opponent will be 7-seeded Cumberlands (Ky.) boasts a 19-11 record and earned their bid as an At-Large out of the Mid-South Conference. They will be making their 20th appearance in the NAIA National Tournament.
To view the full release for the NAIA, click
HERE.
THE SCHEDULE
Friday, March 14, 2026
- Game 1: No. 2 Rio Grande vs. No. 15 Rochester Christian (Mich.) // TBD
- Game 2: No. 7 Cumberlands (Ky.) vs. No. 10 Indiana Wesleyan // TBD
Saturday, March 15, 2026
- Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 // TBD
TICKETS/VIDEO/STATS
Links for tickets, live video, and live stats will be available at
IWUWildcats.com.
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