Saint Xavier University and Olivet Nazarene University have paired off against one another for the CCAC Women's Basketball Division I Tournament Championship each of the past three years with the former also boasting a string of six straight tournament title game appearances.

Will those trends continue in 2009?

The answer to that question is less than one week away with the start of the 2009 tournament set to begin Tuesday night (Mar. 3) at two sites.

Saint Xavier, which has won the tournament title four times during its current six-year run in the championship game, will again be the team to beat after claiming its seventh regular-season title in the past eight years. The Cougars (23-4, 9-1) have won 14 of their last 15 contests and are ranked eighth in the latest NAIA I poll.

University of St. Francis (18-12, 8-2) mans the No. 2 position with 10 victories in its last 12 games with the lone two setbacks in that stretch coming against Saint Xavier.

Each of those two teams will have to wait until Thursday before they open tournament play after receiving opening-round byes based on their high seeds.

As for Tuesday's schedule, No. 3 seed Indiana University South Bend (15-15, 6-4), the only conference team to defeat SXU during the regular season, will host No. 6 Illinois Institute of Technology (10-20, 1-9) at 6 p.m. Central Standard Time in one of the matchups. In the other quarterfinal-round game, No. 5 Robert Morris College (10-18, 2-8) will head to Bourbonnais, Ill. to face defending tournament champion and No. 4 seed Olivet Nazarene (16-13, 4-6) in a 5:30 p.m. showdown.

The winner of the Indiana South Bend/Illinois Tech game would then head to Joliet, Ill. on Thursday night to take on St. Francis, while Saint Xavier would host the winner of the Robert Morris/Olivet Nazarene matchup. Both games are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

The two semifinal-round winners advance to the championship game, which would take place at the site of the highest remaining seed on Saturday at a yet-to-be-determined time.

The winner of the CCAC Tournament gains an automatic bid to the 29th Annual Division I Women's Basketball National Championship March 18-24 at Oman Arena in Jackson, Tenn.

The complete tournament bracket follows:

Robert Morris/Olivet Nazarene Winner at No. 1 Saint Xavier (23-4, 9-1) - 7 p.m.

Championship (Saturday, March 7)
Two semifinal-round winners at site of highest remaining seed - Time TBA