Rewatch NCAA Selection Show

ARDEN HILLS, Minn.—Bethel University's women's basketball team fell to the University of St. Thomas in the 2015 MIAC Championship game, but thankfully the NCAA told the Royals this afternoon that their season wasn't over. Hanging on to their last breath, BU was selected to the 64-team NCAA Tournament as an at-large entrant. Bethel had to wait until the very end of the NCAA selection show, but it was certainly worth the wait.



The Royals had put together a 21-6 resume on the season, which included an 11-game win streak, a win over No. 14-ranked Saint Mary's, and a MIAC Championship game appearance. Bethel is one of three teams to come out of Minnesota, along with the Tommies and the University of Minnesota-Morris.

BU will face Hope College, who has had an eerily similar season to the Royals. The Flying Dutchmen stretched out an 11-game win streak and also made it to the conference championship before losing to Calvin College 73-77. Hope is making its 16th appearance in the national tournament, opposed to Bethel, who is making its fifth appearance in program history (first since 1997).

The Royals will play this Friday, March 6 at King Arena on the campus of Wheaton College (Wheaton, Ill.) with the time to be determined. Bethel's date with the Dutchmen will be the first stop en route to a trip to Grand Rapids, Mich., where the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Final Four will be hosted.