YPSILANTI, Mich. – Oklahoma City University looks to position itself for the finals with a stellar preliminary performance 3:30 p.m. CST (4:30 p.m. EST) Friday at the George Gervin GameAbove Center. 

The Stars, the defending national champions, owns the fourth position among the teams in preliminaries. The prelims begin 3 p.m. CST (4 p.m. EST) Friday, and the finals will be contested 9 a.m. CST (10 a.m. EST) Saturday. 

Teams will earn 25 percent of their final score in the preliminaries. The finals performances will account for 75 percent of the teams' overall scores. The team with the top score in the prelims will perform last in the finals. 

Oklahoma City advanced to the NAIA Championships with its sixth consecutive qualifier title in the NAIA Northeast Qualifying Group Championships on Feb. 26 in Davenport, Iowa. OCU topped last year's national runner-up with a season-best 94.94 overall score. 

The Stars have put up an average score of 89.94 in five performances this season. OCU has garnered scores of 90 or better in the last three outings. 

OCU snared the national championship with a 91.53 overall score in the NAIA Championships on March 13, 2021 in Davenport, Iowa. The Stars cemented the national title with their finals performance that took a 91.95 score.  

Oklahoma City captured its fourth NAIA championship (2014, 2015, 2017 and 2021) after nabbing nine National Cheerleaders Association crowns.