SIOUX CITY, Iowa - The Marian women's basketball team is set to play in its sixth consecutive NAIA Round of 16 game on Friday night, as the top seed in the Liston Quadrant of the NAIA Championship Bracket will take on No. 12 Shawnee State. The NAIA Round of 16 game will tip at 7:00 p.m. EDT at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa. 

Qualifying for the NAIA Round of 16 for a program record seventh consecutive year, the Knights will play in their sixth consecutive Round of 16 contest on Friday night against Shawnee State. The first of the seven appearances was Marian's 2020 qualification, which would not be played due to the COVID-19 outbreak. This is the 12th consecutive year that Marian is playing in Sioux City, a streak that began in the 2014-15 season. 

Marian is one of seven Crossroads League teams that qualified for the NAIA Tournament, and is one of four that reached the final site in Sioux City, joining Saint Francis, Indiana Wesleyan, and Spring Arbor. The Knights are winners of 14 consecutive games entering the NAIA Round of 16, and are 17-2 overall this season against teams who qualified for the NAIA Tournament. Among the remaining teams in the field, Marian has a record of 97-70 combined against the other 15 schools remaining, with the majority of those contests coming against the three other Crossroads League schools. 

The Knights' opponent in the NAIA Tournament Round of 16 is Shawnee State, an unfamiliar opponent to Marian as the two teams are set to play for the first time since the 2012-13 season. Marian is 1-2 all-time against Shawnee State, with Marian winning the last meeting in the aforementioned 2012-13 campaign by a 73-71 score. The Bears had won the previous two games in the series, winning in 2009 and 2010. 

Shawnee State is the Cinderella of the NAIA Women's Basketball Tournament, being one of three double-digit seeds to reach the NAIA Final Site. The Bears are the highest remaining seed, as the 12-seed in the Liston Quadrant enters Friday's game with a 24-8 overall record on the season. The Bears earned an at-large bid in this year's tournament and are in the NAIA Round of 16 for the first time since 2019. This is Shawnee State's final NAIA Tournament Appearance, as the Bears will transition to NCAA DII in the next year. 

Marian is 4-0 against common opponents between the two teams, with wins over Rio Grande, Cumberlands, and Pikeville. Shawnee was 0-2 this season against Rio Grande, 0-1 against Cumberlands, and 1-0 against both Pikeville and Oakland City. 

Shawnee State is led by its senior guard Miyoshi Ellis, who averages 14.8 points per game. Ellis earned First Team All-River States honors, while Laken Williams was a Second Team honoree. Post player TK Catchings rounded out the honors for Shawnee, earning Third Team honors in the River States Conference. 

The winner of Friday night's game will advance to the NAIA Quarterfinals on Saturday, with tip on Saturday for the Liston Quadrant championship scheduled for 9:00 p.m. EDT. The opponent in the quarterfinal round is either the two-seed Campbellsville or the six-seed Spring Arbor. 

MUKnights.com: Your online source for Marian Athletics, tickets, multimedia, Knight merchandise, photos and more.