On Thursday, the Central Methodist Lady Eagles learned where the next step on the way to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics championship would take them. The Lady Eagles will travel to Alexandria, Louisiana to take on Freed-Hardeman (Tennessee). Playing in the women’s Liston quadrant, the Lady Eagles were awarded the fourth seed while their opponent, the 20-12 Lady Lions were seeded 13th. The Lady Lions won an invitation to the tournament after suffering a quarterfinal loss in the Mid-South Conference tourney to Campbellsville.

Central advanced to the final of the Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament before falling to the regular-season Heart champion Clarke University, 56-44.

Seeded above Central in the Liston quadrant are first-seeded Westmont (California), second-seeded Marian (Indiana), and third-seeded Clarke (Iowa). 

In addition to CMU and Freed-Hardeman, fifth-seeded Providence (Montana), and the 12th seed, Talledega (Alabama), will play their game in Alexandria.

The Lady Lions played to an 11-11 conference record during the 2021-22 season while scoring 68.9 points per game and pulling down 34.5 rebounds. The Lady Falcons finished with a 15-4 Heart conference record and averaged 75.7 points and 45 rebounds per game.

In addition to CMU, four other Heart of America Athletic Conference teams earned berths in the tournament. Heart champion Clarke will be the third seed in the Liston quadrant. Benedictine was named the eighth seed in the Cramer quadrant while Grand View will hold the ninth seed along with MidAmerica Nazarene, seeded 11th in the Duer quadrant. 

CMU will tipoff against Freed-Hardeman at 3 p.m. on Friday.

To view the full women’s bracket, see page 8.