Lamar Earns First No. 1 Seed in Southland Conference Tournament
FRISCO, Texas - Lamar earned the top seed for the 2010 State Farm Southland Conference Women's Basketball Tournament, which will get underway Tuesday at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas. The four women's quarterfinal games will begin at noon.
The Lady Cardinals, which recorded their best season as a Southland member at 23-7 overall and 13-3 in conference play, defeated Nicholls 81-52 to clinch their first No. 1 seed in the Southland tournament. Lamar will face No. 8 seed Southeastern Louisiana Tuesday at 6 p.m. The Lady Lions won two of their last four games to make their second consecutive tournament appearance.
No. 2 Stephen F. Austin will face No. 7 seed Northwestern State in the tournament opener at noon Tuesday. The Ladyjacks enter the tournament riding a league-best seven-game win streak and will play in their league-leading 23rd Southland tournament. The Lady Demons snapped a four-game skid with a dominant 84-59 win over Southeastern and are one of three league teams to play in 20 Southland tournaments. Northwestern and SFA split its regular season meetings.
No. 3 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi has reached the Southland tournament in each of its four seasons as a league member. The Islanders posted its best season since joining the Southland with a 20-9 overall record and a 12-4 mark in league play. No. 6 Sam Houston State tips off against the Islanders in game two at 2:30 p.m. The Bearkats won five of their last six games including a three-overtime thriller against Texas State (92-89) to reach their first Southland tournament since 2004.
In a rematch of the 2009 tournament finals, No. 4 UTSA will face No. 5 UT Arlington in game four at 8:30 p.m. The Roadrunners have won the last consecutive Southland tournaments make their 12th tournament appearance and rank second in the league with a .590 tournament win percentage. Coach Samantha Morrow has led the Mavs to the tournament all three seasons in Arlington.
The women's semifinal games tipoff Thursday at 12:05 p.m. and 2:33 p.m. and the championship game is Friday at 7:05 p.m.