MERCED, Calif. – The University of California, Merced women's basketball team will make its sixth appearance in the NAIA National Championships on Friday night as the 15-seeded Bobcats will take on the No. 2 seed Southern Oregon University inside Lithia Motors Pavilion in Ashland, Ore.
Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30pm.
UC Merced (17-8) and Southern Oregon (31-0) enter the national tournament owning two of the three longest active winning streaks in the NAIA. SOU has won 31 straight games and are the only undefeated team in the 64-team field, while the Bobcats are on a program-record 14 game-winning streak.
The team that continues their winning streak advances to the second round to face the winner of #7 Wayland Baptist/#10 Carroll on March 15.
Live coverage from Lithia Motors Pavilion is available here: Watch | Live Stats
WATCH PARTY
UC Merced invites Bobcat Nation to a NAIA National Championship watch party at UC Merced on Main (1635 M Street) this Friday. Doors open at 4:30pm and the event is free. With 2 projectors and multiple screens showing both the men's and women's basketball national tournament games, this is the ultimate way to experience all the action. Pizza and refreshments are provided.
OPENING TIP
UC Merced's last appearance in the NAIA National Championships was in 2022. The Bobcats also made the national tournament in 2015, 2016, and 2017. The Bobcats are the No. 15 seed for the second straight appearance. The Bobcats played the No. 1 overall seed in its first three trips to the dance.
UC Merced earned an automatic berth to the NAIA National Championships after beating La Sierra 60-56 in the Cal Pac Tournament Championship on March 2.
UC Merced swept the Cal Pac Regular Season and Tournament Championships for the first time since 2015-16. The Bobcats finished 10-0 in league play and then beat Westcliff and La Sierra for the Cal Pac Tournament title.
The Bobcats finished conference play undefeated in 2015-16 (8-0), 2021-22 (10-0), and 2024-25 (10-0). Only Menlo College put together more unbeaten seasons in Cal Pac play.
The Bobcats tournament title was their fifth in program history.
UC Merced is one of just four schools in Cal Pac history to win at least five tournament championships in a single sport: Menlo (WBB), Holy Names (WBB), Embry-Riddle (WSOC).
UC Merced's 17 total wins this season are tied for the fourth most in program history.
UC Merced is seeking its first ever national tournament win. The Bobcats are 0-4 but nearly knocked off No. 1 University of St. Francis taking the top-seed to double overtime in 2017.
The Bobcats are looking to be the first Cal Pac team since University of Antelope Valley in 2019 to win a national tournament game.
The Bobcats have won five consecutive road games and are 7-6 on the road overall this season. Prior to the five-game road winning streak, the Bobcats had lost six straight road games.
Prior to the Bobcats final Cal Pac slate, UC Merced won a Bernard-era high six nonconference games. That is also tied for the most nonconference wins of any season since 2018-19.
The NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship Final Site is set for March 17-March 22 at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa.
Last time out, the Bobcats beat La Sierra 60-56 on March 2 in the Cal Pac Tournament Championship game. Nicole Lukito tallied 20 points and 17 rebounds, while Sarina Nagra and Leilani Blecha scored eleven and eight points, respectively. The championship game saw ten lead changes and nine ties. UC Merced led by a game-high ten points, 49-39 towards the end of the third quarter, but trailed after a La Sierra 11-0 run. The game was tied 56-56 with 42 seconds left in the game until Lukito drew a foul and hit both free throws to put her team in front. The Bobcats got two more defensive stops and Lukito sealed the win from there, hitting two more free throws to put the Bobcats up by four points with four seconds left.
2024-2025 TROPHY CASE
Kellie Bernard – Cal Pac Coach of the Year
Nicole Lukito – Cal Pac Player of the Year, All-Cal Pac First Team, Cal Pac All-Defensive Team, 7X Cal Pac Player of the Week
Sarina Nagra – All-Cal Pac First Team & 2X Cal Pac Offensive Player of the Week
Megan Williams – All-Cal Pac First Team
Paloma Ramirez – Cal Pac Sixth Player of the Year and Cal Pac Honorable Mention
CAL PAC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Cal Pac Player of the Year Nicole Lukito is ranked second in the NAIA with 14.9 rebounds per game and leads all Cal Pac players and is second on the West Coast with 16.5 points per game. Lukito has 21 double-double's and is one double-double shy of breaking the Cal Pac record originally set by Cal Maritime's Alicia Porter in 2022-23. Her 371 total rebounds is a program single-season record and her 704 career rebounds is the program's all-time record.
Lukito is shooting 53.9% from the field and a conference best 83.9% from the free throw line. She has also dished out 3.2 assists per game and has blocked 31 total shots.
She is the Bobcats first Cal Pac Player of the Year since Courtney Danna in 2015-16 and her seven Cal Pac Player of the Week awards are a school record.
Lukito's 21 double-double's this season include: 22p/13r at Nobel, 18p/18r at Life Pacific, 10p/16r vs. Southern Oregon, 18p/22r at Sonoma State, 17p/18r vs. Lincoln, 10p/13r at Academy of Art, 14p/15r at Chico State, 17p/21r at Hope International, 12p/11r vs. Nobel, 17p/23r/10a vs. Stanton, 27p/17r at Cal Maritime, 16p/16r vs. PUC, 16p/16r at Simpson, 15p/18r vs. Westcliff, 11p/18r vs. La Sierra, 16p/19r at PUC, 11p/13r vs. Cal Maritime, 23p/10r vs. Simpson, 28p/10p at La Sierra, 17p/19r at Westcliff, 20p/17r vs. La Sierra. She finished the regular season with 14 consecutive double-double's.
Lukito has scored in double figures in 18 consecutive games and 23 of 25 overall this season. She has scored 15+ 17 times and 20+ six times. Lukito has grabbed double figure rebounds 21 times. She has hauled in 15+ rebounds on 15 occasions and 20+ three times.
Lukito recorded the second triple-double in program history in a 99-48 win over Stanton on January 10. The sophomore scored ten points, grabbed 23 rebounds, and added a career-high ten assists for the program's first triple-double since Deja Jackson's on January 6, 2018. Also of note, it's the first triple-double by any Cal Pac player since La Sierra's Luiza Rodriguez on November 3, 2019.
ALL-CAL PAC FIRST TEAMERS (WILLIAMS & NAGRA)
Megan Williams tops the Cal Pac, is second on the West Coast, and 33rd in the NAIA with a .556 field goal percentage. She is averaging 10.6 PPG, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.0 steals per game since January 10. Her .556 field goal percentage is the third highest in program history.
Sarina Nagra ranks third in the Cal Pac scoring 13.8 points per game and is top ten across the board in all shooting percentages, including leading the Cal Pac shooting 36.3% from three-point range. She is at 42.4% from the field and 75.9% from the charity stripe. Nagra has scored double-digits in a career-best eleven consecutive games and her 13.8 PPG is the tenth highest mark in program history.
AT THE HELM
Head coach Kellie Bernard is in her third season leading the Bobcats and has a 40-39 career record, including 21-9 in her last 30 games. She owns a 31-19 career record in Cal Pac play while winning 14 of her last 15 conference contests. Bernard is assisted by Jasmine Washington.
EXCELLING OFFENSIVELY AND DEFENSIVELY
UC Merced possesses one of the top scoring offenses and defenses on the West Coast and rank fifth scoring 71.0 PPG and allowing just 59.8 PPG. Both numbers are also good for top 75 in the entire NAIA. UC Merced leads the Cal Pac in all three shooting percentages maintaining a .402 field goal percentage, .317 three-point field goal percentage, and a .738 free throw percentage. The Bobcats also are first in the conference averaging 15.3 assists per game.
FOR THE LOVE OF NUMBERS
The Bobcats are slashing .433/.314/.742 in victories compared to .339/.323/.726 in defeats.
UC Merced is 14-0 this season when outrebounding its opponents and have won 16 straight when holding the rebounding advantage dating back to last season.
The Bobcats roster is one of the youngest teams in the national tournament with 70% of its roster being freshmen and sophomores. UC Merced's lone senior is Megan Williams. Madison Diaz, Elise LeBeau Gabby Martini, and Paloma Ramirez are juniors.
The Bobcats have led at halftime in 17 of their 25 games this year and have won 13 straight when leading at the half. Overall, the Bobcats are 16-1 this season when leading at halftime.
UC Merced hasn't trailed at halftime since February 1, when they trailed 21-17. The Bobcats four-point halftime comeback was the second biggest comeback under Bernard and the comeback win snapped a nine-game losing when trailing at halftime.
UC Merced has won 22 consecutive games when scoring 80 points or more and have hit 80 seven times this year after hitting it just four times combined in the previous two seasons. Also of note, UC Merced is 40-2 when scoring at least 80 points since the start of the 2017-18 campaign.
The Bobcats are 8-0 this season and have won eleven straight dating back to 2023-24 when hitting at least 15 free throws.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHTS
Leilani Blecha leads the Cal Pac with 51 three-point field goals and is ranked second shooting 36.2% from downtown. She has made at least one triple in six straight games. She is four three-pointers away from 100 in her career. Defensively, she has a steal in seven straight games and broke the program's single-game record with nine steals in the Cal Pac Semifinal win over Westcliff.
Elise LeBeau is one of just three Bobcats to play in all 25 games this season and is fifth in the Cal Pac averaging 2.7 assists per game.
Cal Pac Sixth Player of the Year Paloma Ramirez is averaging 9.4 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and 1.2 SPG since February 6. Ramirez's 74 career games are the most of any Bobcat on the current roster.
Jazzy Beltran is averaging 5.1 PPG, 2.4 APG, 2.0 RPG, and 1.3 SPG.
Freshman Mariah Flores is shooting 45% from the field, 40% (22-54) from downtown, and 85% (23-27) from the foul line. She averages 7.8 PPG, but poured in 15 points in the last meeting vs. Southern Oregon.
Freshman Quinn Godfrey has blocked ten shots on the year and has made 57% (15-26) of her field goal attempts.
Gabby Martini and Sydney Corder Boyd have played in 22 and 20 games, respectively. Martini is averaging 11.8 MPG since February 8, while Boyd is averaging 2.6 RPG in the same timeframe.
Madison Diaz has knocked down 14 three-pointers this season.
STARTING FIVE
Nicole Lukito is the only Bobcat to start all 25 games for UC Merced. Sarina Nagra has started 24 games.
Jazzy Beltran, Leilani Blecha, Paloma Ramirez, and Megan Williams have started at least 13 games.
The Bobcats have used 13 different starting lineups overall and used two different lineups in the Cal Pac Tournament.
Eleven different Bobcats have made one start.
UC Merced is 13-0 since Megan Williams was entered into the starting lineup on January 10.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
UC Merced played its toughest nonconference schedule in the Kellie Bernard era. Of the Bobcats nonconference opponents, Southern Oregon is currently ranked second in the NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll and Oregon Tech is ranked No. 23. The Bobcats played both of those teams on the road. UC Merced also played Chico State, Sonoma State, and Dominican on the road who all advanced to at least the semifinals in their respective conference tournaments, the CCAA and PacWest.
SCOUTING SOUTHERN OREGON
Southern Oregon is the NAIA's only undefeated team at 31-0 on the year and they enter the tournament having advanced to the Round of 32 in each of the last three seasons.
SOU swept the Cascade Collegiate Conference Regular Season and Tournament Championships for the second straight year. The Raiders beat five Top 25 teams this season.
The Raiders possess the third best defense in the NAIA allowing just 53.2 opponent points per game. SOU is also 26th offensively scoring 77 PPG.
3X CCC Coach of the Year Carlotta Kloppenberg-Pruitt is in her fourth season leading the Raiders. She owns an overall record of 112-19 which is the top winning percentage (.855) of any active NAIA coach with 100-plus victories. Prior to SOU, Kloppenberg-Pruitt held many different roles in the WNBA and at the NCAA Division One level including most recently at Arizona State.
CCC Player of the Year Morgan Baird leads four double-digit scorers with 15.3 points per game and is ranked eleventh in the NAIA with a .583 field goal percentage. She also averages 4.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.
Bridgette McIntyre is 13th in the country with 80 three-pointers made and is eleventh shooting 45.2% from downtown. She scored 10.4 PPG and is also stellar from the charity stripe with a .864 free throw percentage.
CCC Co-Defensive Player of the Year Emma Schmerbach averages 11.7 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 1.6 SPG.
Meghan McIntyre leads the Raiders in assists and steals and is top 40 in the NAIA with 126 assists and 73 steals. She scores 10.8 PPG.
Eliza DiGiulio (CCC Sixth Woman of the Year/8.8 PPG) and Clara Robbins (4.9 RPG/1.4 BPG) are other players to watch.
As a team, SOU's 77 PPG are good for 26th in the NAIA and they are third with a 38.4 three-point field goal percentage and 4th with a 47.7 field goal percentage. SOU is sixth committing just 11.9 turnovers per game.
SOU's third ranked defense in the country has held three straight opponents under 50 points with all stellar defensive efforts coming in the CCC Tournament.
SOU is 6-0 all-time against UC Merced.
SOU is 14-0 at home this season and 28-2 in the last 30 home games dating back to last season.
OVERTIME
UC Merced is one of just three schools in the NAIA this year and is the first school on the West Coast since Azusa Pacific University in 2010-11 to qualify both men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's soccer, and women's volleyball for the NAIA Championships in the same athletics year.
