The Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) women’s basketball team was headed for Jackson, Tenn. on Wednesday, March 18 for the National Athletic Interscholastic Association (NAIA) Tournament. Last night’s appearance marked the seventh consecutive appearance in the NAIA tourney for the Sea Lions. Results of the game were unavailable at press time, however. “We are in a tough bracket with Union University (Tennessee),” said PLNU head basketball coach Bill Westphal. “(They are) the No. 1-seeded team and the team expected to win it all.” The women also come into the Nationals with its full complement and no major injuries. “We are all healthy and have all 14 girls here,” Westphal said. The PLNU women enter the Nationals with an overall record of 25-6, notching a 17-3 record in the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) and ranked No. 8 in the nation. The women just missed repeating as GSAC Tournament champions last week with a 78-71 loss to Vanguard University in the conference tournament final. PLNU had previously defeated Cal Baptist 62-50 in the quarterfinal round and Westmont College 62-54 in the semifinal round. The women had also put together a streak of 20 consecutive victories in the regular season, which ended in a 63-48 loss in the regular season finale against the Master’s College. The women were slated to face off with Auburn Montgomery University (Ala.) in the first round. “We have a winnable first game if we can beat the zone and have good outside shooting,” Westphal said. “If we win, then we will most likely face Lubbock Christian (Texas), but the party gets over pretty fast with all the great teams in the tournament.” The NAIA Tournament will include 32 teams in four rounds of play. The GSAC will be well-represented with five teams: PLNU, Azusa-Pacific University (APU), Biola, Vanguard and Westmont College. The first-round matchups for GSAC squads will be: APU against Southern Nazarene (Okla.), Biola facing Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.), Vanguard taking on Berry University (Ga.) and Westmont against Lindsey Wilson (Ky.). The appearance in the Nationals came as a bit of a surprise to Westphal, but he said he is pleasantly surprised with the result. “We’ve been to the playoffs 7 times in my 10 years as head coach here, but I didn’t expect that we would make it back to the NAIA Tournament this year,” he said. While the PLNU women prepare for the Nationals, the PLNU men’s season ended last week with a 99-80 loss to Fresno Pacific in the GSAC quarterfinals. The men finished at 15-16 overall and notched an 8-12 record during the GSAC regular season. Forward Curtis Carlson was named to the All-GSAC Team with an average of 15.9 points and almost 8 rebounds per game. The honors team for the PLNU women includes junior forward Colleen Planeta, who was named the GSAC Player of the Year after leading the nation in points per game (21.92) and second in the nation in blocks (4.21). Overall, she finished the regular season with 614 points, 203 rebounds, 135 blocks, 72 assists and 39 steals. Junior guard Liah Ector was also named to the All-GSAC Team. Ector had 255 points, 184 rebounds, 98 assists and 72 steals. “We are not as deep a team as last year but the girls said that they were going back to the NAIA Tournament and they were able to. So I am proud of them,” Westphal said.