I. Playing Rules/Resources
A. The River States Conference plays under NCAA rules with approved NAIA modifications. The current NCAA playing rules and interpretations can be found at http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/WBR17.pdf.
B. Complete information (including the Coaches’ Manual) on NAIA Women’s Division II Basketball can be found in the NAIA website link below:
NAIA Women's Division II Basketball Coaches' Corner
II. General Information
A. Personnel
1. Sport Chair – Jenna Everhart, West Virginia Tech
2. Rater – John Kenger, Midway University
3. Ratings Oversight Committee
a. Tiffany Selhorst, IU East
b. Jenna Everhart, WVU Tech
c. Leann Dahlstein, Asbury University
4. Sport Liaison – Rusty Kennedy, Midway University
5. Referee Assignor – Lois Holmes
B. Participating Teams/Divisions
East Division
1. Carlow (Pa.) University
2. Indiana University East
3. Ohio Christian University
4. Point Park (Pa.) University
5. University of Rio Grande (Ohio)
6. West Virginia Tech
West Division
1. Alice Lloyd (Ky.) College
2. Asbury (Ky.) University
3. Brescia (Ky.) University
4. Cincinnati Christian (Ohio) University
5. Indiana University Kokomo
6. Indiana University Southeast
7. Midway (Ky.) University
III. Regular Season Competition
A. Each team will play every conference member school twice within the division and once outside the division during the regular season. The conference calendar-schedule will begin with intra-conference games. Games featuring teams from opposite divisions will be played in the middle of the conference schedule.
B. The conference schedule will be created by the Championship & Scheduling Committee. Conference schedules will be drafted in two-year segments at approved at least one year in advance. The Committee will take into consideration issues such as competitive balance, missed classed days/time, travel partners, doubleheaders, and facility scheduling issues when creating the schedules.
C. Conference games must adhere to the conference schedule. Any changes to the conference schedule must be agreed upon by both competing Head Coaches and Athletic Directors and approved by the conference commissioner in advance. Makeup games may take place at any time during the season, but must be completed by the Sunday prior to the start of the conference tournament.
D. Any team that fails to complete the full conference schedule will be ineligible to participate in the postseason tournament. Exceptions to this policy would be allowed only by recommendation of the Championship Committee and a vote of the Administrative Council.
E. Officials for conference games shall be assigned by the registered conference
referee assignor. Officials must meet all conference and NAIA requirements.
F. Official ball – The River States Conference will use the official NAIA Championship basketball (Spalding TF1000 Legacy) for all regular and postseason conference games.
G. Timeouts/Media timeouts – The River States Conference will not use media timeouts in women’s basketball. The conference has adopted the non-media timeout option in the NCAA Playing Rules. In this option, teams will have three (3) 30-second timeouts and two (2) full timeouts. A team no longer loses a 30-second timeout when it does not use a timeout in the first two quarters. Teams will be granted an additional 30-second timeout for each overtime period.
H. The top two teams in each division will be named regular-season division champions and will be the #1 seed in their respective division.
I. Game tape/film exchange – All conference schools/teams will use Krossover as the official game tape exchange software of the River States Conference. Home teams are responsible for uploading games by noon (local time) the day after each game. Should a team fail to upload their game, the institution will be penalized in the following manner:
1. First violation – a written warning letter and the team in violation is locked out of the Krossover site (unable to view games). Institutional Athletic Director will be copied on warning letter.
2. Second violation – $500 fine and continued restriction from Krossover site until fine is paid. The Athletic Director and President/Chancellor will be copied on any violation that includes a monetary fine.
3. Third violation – $1,000 fine, restricted from Krossover site and a loss of postseason awards eligibility.
4. Fourth violation - $1,000 fine and the Conduct in Competition Committee will be asked to review the case and recommend any additional sanctions.
These penalties will be imposed on a per-sport basis (i.e. women’s basketball team would not be penalized if men’s team is in violation or vice-versa. All incidents must be reviewed to prevent a team from being sanctioned/penalized for violations outside of their control (equipment malfunction, power outage, etc.). These sanctions mirror the NAIA national statistical guidelines for reporting statistics to the NAIA via DakStats.
J. No information (scouting reports) or game film on conference teams are to be shared with non-conference opponents. Any member that violates the conference exchange guidelines with institutions outside the conference would be ineligible to receive film requests as per the conference guidelines for the next academic year.
IV. Conference Postseason Competition
A. The River States Conference Basketball Tournament will be an eight-team tournament with the top four teams in each division advancing to the tournament. Teams will be seeded #1-#4 within their division.
B. The conference tournament field/seeds will be officially approved by the
conference commissioner, conference SID, AD sport liaison and sport chair at the end of the regular season.
C. The conference tournament will use the following postseason calendar:
· First round – Wednesday prior to the NAIA qualification deadline
· Semi-finals – Saturday prior to the NAIA qualification deadline
· Championship game – Tuesday (NAIA qualification deadline)
D. The conference will use a crossover tournament bracket as outlined below:
· First Round pairings – East #1 vs. West #4; West #1 vs. East #4; East #2 vs. West #3; West #2 vs. East 3.
· Semi-final round pairings – winner of East #1/West #4 vs. winner of West #2/East #3; winner of West #1/East #4 vs. winner of East #2/West #3.
· Championship round pairings – two remaining undefeated teams.
E. Seeding/tie-breaking criteria within divisions.
1. Two-way ties. The following criteria (in order listed) will be used to determine the top four qualifiers and seeds within each division:
a.) Head-to-head results in conference games
b.) Results against teams within the division not involved in the tie; starting at the top of the division standings
c.) Point differential in head-to-head competition (conference games only)
d.) Results against teams in the other division; starting at the top of the division standings
e.) Coin flip by commissioner (team with most recent head-to-head win will “call” the toss)
2. Three-way (or more) ties. The following criteria (in order listed) will be used to break ties (and seed) involving multiple teams. Note – once a team is eliminated, the process reverts back to the step #1 in the tie-breaking process.
a. Overall record amongst the tied teams in division games.
b. Results against teams within the division not involved in the tie; starting with the top of the division standings
c. Point differential in head-to-head competition (conference games only)
d. Results against teams in the other division; starting at the top of the division standings
e. Coin flip by commissioner (team with most recent head-to-head win will “call” the toss)
F. The division winner with the best regular-season conference record will earn the overall #1 seed in the conference tournament. If there is a tie between the two division winners, then the following criteria will be used:
1. A tie between the division winners will exist if the teams have an equal number of wins OR losses when comparing their regular-season conference records.
2. If a tie exists between the two division winners, then the winner of the head-to-head conference regular-season game will be declared the overall #1 seed.
3. Regardless of overall conference records, the division winner that is not declared the overall #1 seed will always be the overall #2 seed in the tournament.
G. The tournament winner will receive the conference’s first automatic qualifying berth to the NAIA National Championship as the River States Conference Tournament Champion.
H. If the conference receives two automatic qualifiers to the NAIA national tournament and if the tournament champion is one of the division winners, then the other division winner will receive the second automatic qualifier. If neither divisional winner is the tournament champion, then the overall #1 seed in the conference tournament will receive the second qualifying berth.
I. The tournament must be concluded prior to the NAIA qualification deadline. If the tournament cannot be completed (contingency plan) and the conference receives two automatic qualifiers, then the two division winners will receive the qualifying berths. If the conference has only one automatic berth and the tournament is not completed, then the overall #1 seed will receive the automatic berth.
J. Each game host will pay the conference $500 for the rights to host the game.
K. Game fees for the conference tournament will be paid by the conference office.
L. Gate receipts for each game are the property of the host institution.
M. The host institution is responsible for providing an official scorer, scoreboard operators, statisticians, sports information duties, a certified athletic trainer, and other auxiliary officials.
N. The host is responsible for providing a live video stream for all postseason matches. Postseason matches will be broadcasted on a pay-per-view format on the conference portal via Stretch Internet. The conference will retain all revenue from videostreaming subscriptions/sponsorships.
V. Conference Ratings
A. Each sport committee will elect a member to serve as rater. If a sport cannot elect a rater, then the commissioner will appoint a rater after consulting with the sport chair and oversight committee. Below are the qualifications for serving as a rater:
1. Raters must be head coaches with at least one year of head coaching service
in the conference.
2. Raters will serve a term of two (2) years.
3. Raters may serve additional terms; based upon recommendations from the coaches and satisfactory evaluations from the sport oversight committees.
4. If two divisions exist in the sport, then the division that does not include the rater must be represented on the oversight committee.
B. Raters will familiarize themselves with and adhere to established NAIA and River States Conference ratings policies and procedures. Raters will serve the best interests of the River States Conference institutions and the NAIA at all times.
C. Raters will provide ratings and justification to members of the Oversight Committee for review before they are submitted to the NAIA. This e-mail communication must be sent to the conference sport oversight committee no later than 9AM on Monday (or a minimum two hours prior to the deadline for submitting conference rating to the NAIA).
D. Raters will practice transparency by sharing conference ratings and justification with fellow coaches when requested. The conference sport oversight committee must be included in this process.
E. The commissioner will appoint a three-person conference ratings oversight committee. At least one member of the oversight committee must be a head coach in the respective sport.
F. The conference office will coordinate an end-of-season evaluation process for all raters. The process will include input from the conference sport oversight committee and focus primarily on the following criteria:
1. Consistent weekly submission of conference and national ratings on or before posted deadlines.
2. Consistent and active participation in ratings conference calls and national ratings committee meetings.
3. Consistent communication with coaches’ group(s), sport/conference oversight committees, and the conference/national office.
VI. Statistical Reports
A. Scores must be reported to the conference website through the SIDHelp Admin portal ASAP after each game and no later than 24 hours after the game. Scores must be reported by Sunday at 7 p.m. ET for the purposes of weekly conference rankings.
B. All statistics must be reported to the NAIA Dakstats Websync site by Mondays at 5 p.m. ET. Statistics that are not reported by then are subject to the penalties outlined by the NAIA in the NAIA SID Manual for non-reporting.
C. All Player of the Week nominations must be made at the NAIA SIDHelp Admin portal by Monday at 12 p.m. ET. Voting for Player of the Week takes place between 12-3 pm ET.
D. Failure to report scores to the conference website within 24 hours or to report statistics to the NAIA Dakstats Websync site would result in the following sanctions:
1. First Miss – Email Reminder
2. Second Miss – Probation letter from conference commissioner
3. Third Miss – Student-athlete ineligible for postseason awards
4. Fourth Miss – Team ineligible for postseason competition.
E. The conference SID will be responsible for releasing Player of the Week awards and weekly reports.
F. Each school is responsible for posting its team schedule and rosters to the conference website through the SIDHelp admin portal by September 1 of the season.
VII. Awards
A. The conference provides the following women’s basketball awards. Awards will be ordered and distributed by the conference commissioner. It is the responsibility of the sport chair to coordinate the awards nomination/selection process with the commissioner, sport AD liaison and conference SID. Below is a listing of awards:
1. 1st and 2nd All-Conference teams consisting of ten (10) players selected by vote of the coaches. There are no position restrictions for
these all-conference teams. The selection process will be as follows:
a. Each coach may nominate any number of players that are
worthy of all-conference consideration from their team.
b. All nominated players will be placed on a ballot (that lists both conference and overall statistics) and coaches will vote for the top 15 players in rank order. Coaches will not be allowed to vote for their own players.
c. Ballots will be compiled the all-conference teams and special award recipients will be announced during the tournament. Coaches will conduct a conference call or face-to-face meeting to determine special award winners (i.e. Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, Coach of the Year).