Lady Cats Open up Final Leg of Championship Quest Friday in Sioux City
SIOUX CITY, IA- The 2026 NAIA Women's Basketball Championship presented by Bomgaars and Sterlin gets underway Thursday in Sioux City, Iowa. The 45th annual championship occurs at the Tyson Events Center from March 19-24.
Sixteen teams will put their seasons on the line with hopes of winning the coveted title.
One of those teams traveled almost 800 miles and carries the hopes of their Purple Nation with them.
The Bethel Lady Wildcats (27-5) are the No. 1 seed in the Duer Quadrant and will face No. 4 seed Lewis -Clark State (28-5) Friday at 11 a.m. Bethel and LCSC met in the big dance back in 2017 in Billings, Montana with Lewis- Clark State winning 69-58. LCSC would advance to the title game before losing to Oklahoma City. It is the only meeting ever between the two programs.
The No. 3 Cats reached the Fab Four last year before falling to eventual national champion Dordt.
It is Bethel's 16th appearance in the national championship.
The No. 17 Warriors will be making their 28th appearance in the championship.
Watch:
https://urbanedgenetwork.net/?school=naia-championships
Stats:
https://bethel.prestosports.com/sports/wbkb/2025-26/boxscores/20260320_zaay.xml
Bethel made the Final Round of 16 by beating Talladega and Huntingdon in first and second round action held at Crisp Arena last weekend. The victories gave Bethel an all-time record of 186-43 in the arena which opened in 2012.
LCS advanced after beating Hope International and Montana Tech in first and second round play.
Both squads have had success in neutral site games this season. Bethel is 5-1 while LCS is undefeated at 4-0.
Lady Wildcats:
Bethel averages 73.4 points per game and yields 59.7 per outing.
The Cats shoot 44 percent from the floor while their opponents shoot 36 percent from the field.
Bethel shoots 34 percent from behind the arc. Opponents average 29 percent from long distance. Mikee Buchanan leads the squad in three-point attempts and in made three pointers with 78. The team has hit 257 treys on the year. The team averages eight made per game.
The Lady Cats have been excellent from the free throw line at 75 percent. Madison Hart leads the Lady Cats in free throw attempts while Micah Hart leads the squad in free throws made.
Bethel averages 37 rebounds per game while opponents have averaged 33 per contest. Mikee Buchanan leads the team in rebounding with 6.3 per outing.
The Cats average 14 assists per game. Hallie Turner leads the team with 115 on the season.
Buchanan is second in scoring at 15.0 points per game. Madison Hart averages 13.7. MJ Simmons average 9.3 points per outing.
Back on January 17th Bethel's Micah Hart became the 20th player in program history to join the 1,000-point club when she led the Lady Cats with a 37-point performance in a victory over Lindsey Wilson in Columbia, Kentucky. Her sister, Madison, joined the club last season.
The three-time Player of the Week in the MSC was named the league's Most Valuable Player. She led the league in scoring with an average of 18.7 points per outing. Hart averaged 20.7 points in league play. She leads the team in steals with 63 and has 63 assists on the year.
Coach Chris Nelson is in his 20th season as head coach of the Lady Wildcats and has a career mark of 430-214. During Coach Chris Nelson's tenure as head coach, Bethel has qualified for 14 NAIA national tournaments (2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 2022, 2025, and 2026).
LCSC:
LCS received an at-large bid out the Cascade Conference. The Warriors finished as the runners-up in the CCC postseason tournament before a loss to No. 20 Corban (Ore.) in Salem.
LCSC faced early tests with a strong non-conference schedule. The Warriors defeated then-No. 15 Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 71-61 on the road and earned other victories over ranked teams in the CCC with wins over Corban and Eastern Oregon.
The Warriors had four players earn All-CCC honors in seniors Sitara Byrd and Payton Hymas, junior Darian Herring and sophomore Kendall Wallace. Byrd led LC State in scoring throughout the season with 13.6 points per game and ranks second in the conference in 3-point percentage (41.9%). She is third in steals with 71 and adds 6.3 rebounds per game.
Hymas is second in the conference in steals (75) and assists (125) and is the only CCC player to be in the top five in both categories. She has put together the best season of her career with 12.9 points per game while shooting 50% from the field. Herring is one of the top defensive players in the CCC with a conference-best 8.9 rebounds per game and 69 blocked shots. Her 12.0 points per game are third on the teams and she is fourth in the Cascade with 103 assists.
Wallace had a breakout season and ranks fifth in the conference in 3-point percentage (41%) heading into the national tournament. The sophomore leads LC State in 3-pointers made with 64 and is fourth at LC in scoring with 10.2 points per game. Her 53 steals are third on the team.
LC State is the top CCC team in steals per game (11.8) and is second in scoring (76.4), field goal percentage (45.9) and 3-point percentage (34.3).
Coach Caelyn Orlandi is headed to the final site of the NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship for the eighth time as a Warrior, but for the first time leading her alma mater as the head coach. Orlandi scored 29 points in the win over Bethel in 2017.
Did you Know?
The Lady Cats shared the regular season Mid-South Conference championship with Freed-Hardeman with a mark of 9-3.
Eleven Lady Wildcats earned conference all-academic status.
Madison Hart, Micah Hart, and Mikee Buchanan were named to the Mid-South 1st Team All-Conference squad.
Bethel's Adalyn Koelling was named to the MSC Champions of Character Team.
Madison Hart has 1, 734 career points which places her 3rd on the all-time scoring list as a Lady Wildcat. Hart has 738 career rebounds which is the 6th most in school history. Hart missed 11 games this year with an injury.
In less than two full seasons, Micah Hart has 1,221 career points