The NJCAA announced Thursday that Lubbock, TX will host the NJCAA Division I Women’s Basketball National
Championship in 2016-2018.

Mary Ellen Leicht, Executive Director of the NJCAA said, “The NJCAA greatly appreciates the hard work
and passion that the city of Salina, its volunteers and tournament director Tiffany Benien have put in to this
championship over the last 17 years. The decision to part ways was a difficult one and was not taken lightly
by the Championship Events Committee. The NJCAA is looking forward to hosting the Division I Women’s
Basketball Championship in Salina in 2015.”
The announcement came from the NJCAA Annual Meeting in Colorado Springs.

“Certainly this is not the outcome we’d hoped for,” stated Tiffany Benien, Sports & Special Events Manager
for the Chamber. “The Chamber, the Bicentennial Center, the business community and our dedicated
volunteers – 250 strong – have supported this event whole-heartedly. Although disappointed, we are
extremely proud of the job we’ve done and of the proposal we submitted for 2016-2018. We’ve run a quality
tournament since the ’97-’98 season, and believe that experience and Salina’s hospitality to the teams, fans,
media and recruiting coaches will be immensely difficult to match. We look forward to continuing that legacy
when we host the event in March 2015. Our staff, partners, local business sponsors, hospitality industry, and
community volunteers will continue to support the tournament as we complete our current contract. It has
been a great pleasure to work with the NJCAA, and we welcome the opportunity to continue that relationship
as other opportunities arise.”

The National Championship will be held at the Salina Bicentennial Center March 16-21, 2015.