Semifinal Preview: Lady Eagles-Sabercats vie for berth in Regional Championship

In a match-up featuring two of the country's top NCCAA DII women's programs, the Emmaus Lady Eagles and the Maranatha Baptist University Sabercats will take the court tonight at 6pm in the semifinals of the NCCAA North Regional Tournament in Ellendale, ND. 

Tonight's semifinal features the past two regional champions:

• Emmaus defeating Maranatha in the championship game in 2018.

• And Maranatha topping the Eagles on the way to the title in 2019. 

Once again, this year's tournament game features two top-performing squads with Maranatha entering the game ranked #3 nationally (17-3), while the Lady Eagles enter ranked #5 nationally (17-7). 

The Lady Eagles will bring the nation's #2 scoring offense to the court (78.4 points/game) versus the Sabercats' #2 scoring defense (52.8 points/game)

Emmaus reached the semifinal round with a 79-39 victory in the quarterfinal versus host school Trinity Bible College.  The Eagles shot superb from the floor, hitting on 50% from the field and 53% (9-17) from beyond the arc.  The Eagles were paced by Riley Harding and Kia Gelinas, who poured in 19 points each, and Tiffany Williams who contributed15 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 steals.

In the semifinals the Lady Eagles will look to reverse two regular season losses to the Sabercats.  Emmaus fell to Maranatha, 67-58, on Jan. 7 in Dubuque, and again in Watertown, by a score of 74-66, on Jan. 28.

The winner of tonight's semifinal will advance to play the winner of Calvary-Providence on Saturday, Feb. 29 @ 2pm CST.