The new-look Women’s Division I semifinals are set for Saturday, with Southern Nazarene hosting Brigham Young in Bethany, OK at 10 a.m. CT, and undefeated defending national champion Wheeling hosting Penn State in West Virginia at 5 p.m. ET. The winners advance to the national title game, Dec. 6 in Houston, TX. 

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The top-ranked Cardinals are 10-0 on the season, fresh off a 55-24 win over DI-AA contender Virginia in Charlottesville, VA. The Nittany Lions are 2-6, having played one of the toughest schedules in the country. They enter the postseason after back-to-back losses to Navy and BYU.

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The East semifinal is a rematch of the season opener for Penn State and Wheeling. The young Nittany Lions traveled to West Virginia Aug. 30, and the hosts won 87-0. Cardinal Flyhalf Bella Gullatta accounted for 37 points, with two tries, three penalty kicks and nine conversions, and Emerson Callegari and Shannon Whypji both scored hat-tricks. 

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Penn State qualified for the semifinals with wins over Walsh in September and St. Bonaventure in October. Freshman fullback Jessica Ciaffi racks up points from the tee for Penn State, while Dani Deer is a threat on the wing, scoring a hat-trick against the Bonnies. 

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The West semifinal is a rematch from last October, when BYU traveled to Bethany and defeated the Crimson Storm, 38-19, in a friendly. The Cougars were slated to return to Oklahoma last month, but stayed in Utah, resulting in one of four forfeit victories on SNU’s (8-1) schedule. 

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Combined with two more cancellations, it’s been a rocky, but successful fall for last season’s runner-up, whose trio of All-Americans (center Telesi Uhatafe, hooker Lauren Anderson and No. 8 Palu Sau) haven’t started together regularly. Nonetheless, the Crimson Storm collected impressive wins over Aquinas and GCU.

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The Cougars are undefeated this fall, with wins over Air Force, Grand Canyon and Penn State. Scrumhalf Heather Siaki took home player of the match honors against GCU, while flanker Ashley Tyrrell won the same award against Penn State, and lock Kalissa Brooks claimed it in the Air Force win. 

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Both semifinals will be livestreamed Saturday on National Collegiate Rugby’s new streaming platform, NCR TV.  For more rugby news, check out TheCollegeRugbyShow.com.

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