Christ College Irvine’s Women Play Fresno Pacific for District 3 Title

The Christ College Irvine women’s basketball team will play host to Fresno Pacific at 7:30 tonight for the championship of the NAIA District 3 and a spot in the national tournament.

Fresno Pacific (24-4) is virtually assured of a berth in the NAIA Division I tournament, which will be held March 4-10 in Jackson, Tenn., because of the Sunbirds’ ranking (16th) in the final poll released Monday. For the first time, 11 at-large bids will be awarded based on the final rankings. It’s unlikely that unranked Christ College (24-4), which is among the others receiving votes in the final poll, would get an at-large bid if the Eagles lose tonight.

CCI and Fresno Pacific split two games this season: Fresno won, 75-57, Jan. 25 and Christ College won, 70-69, Feb. 14. The teams were tied with Point Loma Nazarene for the Golden State Athletic Conference title, but Christ College received the top seeding and the home-court advantage in a vote by the district coaches. Christ College is 26-2 at home the past two seasons.

Fresno, which lost, 65-64, to Point Loma Nazarene in the District 3 championship last season, will be making its fifth appearance in the title game in eight seasons.

Gitte Mejer, a 6-foot-2 sophomore center, is averaging 17.4 points and 8.9 rebounds for the Eagles, who are playing in their first title game. CCI senior Nancy Geisler is averaging 15.6 points and ranks second in the nation in three-point shooting percentage (50.4%).