Wingate Earns Top Seed For 2007 Food Lion Women’s Basketball Tournament
ROCK HILL, SC. - The Wingate University women's basketball team, which won their fourth consecutive South Atlantic Conference regular-season title, are the top seed for the 2007 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament, which begins Monday.
The Wingate Bulldogs clinched the top seed with a 14-2 conference record. The Bulldogs, 22-5 overall and the top-ranked team in the South Atlantic Region, will open the tournament at home at 6 p.m. Wednesday against the winner of Monday's first-round game between ninth seed Presbyterian (1-15 SAC, 6-21 overall) and eighth-seed Lincoln Memorial (5-11 SAC, 13-14 overall).
Catawba College and Newberry College finished tied for second in the conference standings. Catawba earned the second seed according to the league's tiebreaker procedure. The two teams split their regular-season meetings and lost both meetings to top seed Wingate. The two teams were tied with a record of 3-1 against the teams tied for fourth place - Carson-Newman and Lenoir-Rhyne. Catawba earned the advantage by having a 4-0 record against the teams tied for sixth place - Tusculum and Mars Hill - while Newberry was 2-2 against those teams.
Catawba (10-6, 20-8) will host seventh-seed Tusculum (7-9, 15-12) at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. Tusculum advanced to the tournament championship game last year.
Newberry (10-6, 21-6) will host sixth-seed Mars Hill (7-9, 14-13) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. Newberry is the defending tournament champion.
Carson-Newman and Lenoir-Rhyne finished tied for fourth place in the standings with 9-7 conference records. Carson-Newman earned the fourth seed and the final home-court advantage. The two teams split their regular-season meetings and split their series with top seed Wingate. Carson-Newman earned the higher seed by winning one game against third-seed Catawba, while Lenoir-Rhyne lost both of its meetings with Catawba.
Carson-Newman (9-7, 19-8) will host Lenoir-Rhyne (9-7, 16-11) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
The tournament kicks off on Monday with eighth-seed Lincoln Memorial hosting ninth-seed Presbyterian at 7 p.m.
Tickets for all tournament games are $6 per day for adults, $3 per day for children, students and college students with ID.
The men's and women's winners of the tournament will earn automatic bids to the NCAA Division II playoffs.
WOMEN
Monday, February 26
Food Lion SAC Tournament First Round, Home of Higher Seed
No. 9 Presbyterian at No. 8 Lincoln Memorial, 7 pm
Wednesday, February 28
Food Lion SAC Tournament, Quarterfinals, Home of Higher Seed
Lincoln Memorial/Presbyterian winner at No. 1 Wingate, 6 pm
No. 7 Tusculum at No. 2 Catawba, 6 pm
No. 6 Mars Hill at No. 3 Newberry, 7 pm
No. 5 Lenoir-Rhyne at No. 4 Carson-Newman, 7 pm
Saturday, March 3
Food Lion SAC Tournament, Semifinals, CVCC Arena, Hickory, NC
Lincoln Memorial/Presbyterian - Wingate winner vs. Carson-Newman -
Lenoir-Rhyne winner, 1 pm
Tusculum/Catawba winner vs. Mars Hill/Newbery winner, 6 pm
Sunday, March 4
Food Lion SAC Tournament, Finals, CVCC Arena, Hickory, NC
Championship, 2 pm