Photo by Luke Zayas/LukeZayasMedia/True To The Cru
BELTON—In a huge piece of scheduling news for UMHB women’s basketball’s 2024-25 season, The Cru will welcome a 2024 Final Four team to Belton on December 17, hosting Wartburg College. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT, with Wartburg facing ETBU in Belton the following afternoon.
The Knights, who are located in Waverly, Iowa, come off a run to the national semifinals this past season, the program’s third appearance in the national semifinals since 2016. They went 29-3 overall, finishing the year ranked No. 4 in D3hoops.com’s final Top 25 Poll.
It will be a matchup of NCAA Tournament teams from the 2023-24 season, as UMHB reached the tournament for the fourth time in program history this past March, falling to SCAC champ Trinity (TX) in the first round. It was the first tournament appearance under head coach Katie Novak-Lenoir, who completed her inaugural season at the helm of the program with a 21-7 record. UMHB won at least 20 games for just the fifth time in The Cru’s D-III era.
Wartburg’s tournament run began with a 72-65 win over Wisconsin Lutheran, followed by a 62-59 victory over No. 16 Illinois Wesleyan in the second round. The Knights then won a one-point game, 54-53, against Bates in the Sweet 16, followed by a 68-58 victory against Player of the Year candidate Mary Schleusner and the Washington & Lee Generals. That Elite Eight win in Providence, Rhode Island, sent Wartburg to Columbus for the Final Four, where Smith pulled out a 61-54 overtime win to end the Knights’ incredible season. In addition, Wartburg captured the American Rivers Conference regular season and tournament titles, winning the league tournament for the fifth time since 2017.
UMHB has faced Wartburg just once previously, as the two met in Belton on Dec. 19, 2012. The Knights went 2-0 on that mid-season trip to the Lone Star State, defeating Southwestern, 75-71, before earning a 67-62 win over The Cru two days later. Wartburg went 16-10 that season, and UMHB finished at 8-17.
Wartburg will be just the second ARC opponent UMHB has ever faced, according to UMHB’s opponent history on cruathletics.com. Two seasons ago, the Crusaders defeated Nebraska Wesleyan, 67-55, in a neutral site game in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Additionally, it is expected to be The Cru’s first non-conference home game against a Top 25 opponent since Jan. 2, 2023, when No. 18 UC-Santa Cruz made a trip to Belton. UMHB won that contest, 60-49.
New scheduling information will be posted on TrueToTheCru.com as it becomes available.
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