By: Nancy Binger, Judson University

The CCAC Women's Basketball Division I regular season is complete and the tournament bracket is set. The top two teams, Saint Xavier University and St. Francis University, will both have first-round byes, while the other four teams will battle in quarterfinal action on Tuesday night.

In the first game on Tuesday, No. 5 Robert Morris University (15-14) will travel to No. 4 Indiana University-South Bend (19-10) for a 7 p.m. EST game. IUSB finished the conference schedule with a 5-5 record to finish fourth, while Robert Morris was 2-8 for fifth place. Indiana-South Bend swept the regular-season series against Robert Morris, including a 73-70 win on January 12, and a 65-53 win on February 16. These two teams have two of the league's top five scorers. Robert Morris is led by junior Jerita Gordon (Chicago, IL) who averages 16.2 points per game, which ranks second, while also leading the CCAC with a 9.0 rebounds per game average. IUSB is led by junior Katie Hacker (Indianapolis, IN) who ranks fourth with both her 15.6 points per game average and 6.8 rebounds per game average.

The winner of this game will travel to No. 1 Saint Xavier University (27-1) on Thursday. The Cougars are ranked No. 2 in the nation and have won 10 straight games. St. Xavier put together a 9-1 conference record to win the CCAC Regular-Season Championship. The Cougars is leading the league in scoring defense, giving up just 61.7 points per game. They also lead in field goal percentage, shooting 46.3 percent as a team. They are outscoring their opponents by a 22.6 points per game margin. SXU is led by seniors Erin Hannemann (Homer Glen, IL) and Kathlyn McClain (Oak Forest, IL). Hannemann is the league's leading scorer at 17.0 points per game. She also leads the CCAC with her 60 percent field goal percentage and is second in rebounding at 8.3 rebounds per game. McClain averages 15.1 points per game which ranks fifth.

In other action on Tuesday, No. 6 Holy Cross (5-25) will play at No. 3 Olivet Nazarene University (14-16) at 7 p.m. Olivet Nazarene finished in third place with a 6-4 conference record. Holy Cross, in its first year in the conference, was unable to get a win and finished 0-10. Olivet beat Holy Cross twice in February. The Tigers won 119-70 on Feb. 6, and 133-57 on Feb. 23. Olivet Nazarene is the league's highest scoring offense as the Tigers average 97.4 points per game. Junior Simone Coburn (North Chicago, IL) leads ONU with a 16.0 points per game average which ranks third in the conference. Sophomore Jaimie Buckman (Morton, IL) is ranked third in the CCAC with her 7.3 rebounds per game average. Sophomore Danielle Pipal (Wheaton, IL) leads the league in assists (5.4 apg.) and steals (2.9 spg.).

No. 2 seed St. Francis will host the winner of this game on Thursday. The Saints received three votes in the most recent NAIA National Poll. They finished in second place with an 8-2 record. They are the only team to beat St. Xavier this year. St. Francis is led by senior Jacqie Storm (Orland Park, IL) who averages 14.7 points per game.