UAFS will make its sixth appearance in the Heartland Conference Women's Basketball Championship Tournament on Friday when the No. 6 seed Lady Lions play the No. 3 seed St. Mary's Rattlers in the first round of the four-day tournament.
Tipoff will be 5 p.m. at the Union Multipurpose Activity Center in Tulsa, Okla. The game will be broadcast on KHGG-FM 101.1 and KHGG-AM 1580.
Live statistics and
live stream will be available.
UAFS has won one conference tournament championship and finished runner-up twice, including last year when UAFS lost to Lubbock Christian in the championship game.
The Lady Lions (10-17) went 7-7 in regular-season, conference play and finished in a four-way tie for third place with St. Mary's, Rogers State and St. Edward's, earning the No. 6 seed via the tiebreaker.
St. Mary's is making its 16th tournament appearance in the 17-year history of the conference tournament. The Rattlers, who failed to qualify for the tournament in 2005, have won five conference tournament championships and finished runner-up twice.
The Rattlers (17-9) went 7-7 in regular-season, conference play and finished in a four-way tie for third, earning the No. 3 seed via the tiebreaker.
It will be the 22
nd meeting in the all-time series between the Lady Lions and the Rattlers. UAFS leads the series 11-10. UAFS and St. Mary's split their regular-season series with St. Mary's beating UAFS 65-48 on Jan. 26 at St. Mary's Bill Greehey Arena and UAFS beating St. Mary's 63-48 on Feb. 23 at UAFS' Stubblefield Center.
It will be only the second postseason meeting between the two teams. UAFS beat St. Mary's 61-50 in the tournament semifinals last year.
UAFS averages 64 points per game with two players averaging double-figures in scoring – senior forward
Ellie Lehne (11.2 ppg) and senior guard
Mariah Green (10 ppg). Green leads the team in assists (3.8 apg).
The Lady Lions out-rebound their opponents by almost 3 rebounds (36.2-33.6), and junior forward
Tamera Gulley leads the team in rebounds (6.4 rpg). UAFS allows 66 points per game and forces 16 turnovers per game. Senior guard
Daijah Brown leads the team in steals (2 spg), and Gulley leads the team in blocked shots (1.7 bpg).
St. Mary's averages 64 points per game with three players averaging double-figures in scoring – redshirt senior guard Kaitlin Walla (14.3 ppg), senior guard Arysia Porter (13.9 ppg) and sophomore guard Soteria Banks (12.2 ppg). Porter leads the team in assists (3.4 apg).
The Rattlers out-rebound opponents by almost 3 rebounds per game (38.8-36.2), and sophomore post Hannah Wilson leads the team in rebounds (9.7 rpg). St. Mary's allows 62 points per game and forces 16 turnovers per game. Porter leads the team in steals (2.7 spg), and Wilson leads the team in blocked shots (1 bpg).
