| Lady Tribe ends regular season with win against
USA
By Kelly Ponder, staff writer The Lady Indians finished the regular season Saturday with a 83-67 win against South Alabama and hope to start the conference tournament Wednesday with a win against the same Lady Jaguars. Arknasas State (19-6, 10-3 Sun Belt Conference) finished tied for third in the SBC with New Orleans and lost a coin toss Saturday night to seed them fourth in the tournament, which pits them versus USA at 8:30 p.m. at E. A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Ky. "We'll have to come out and establish a faster pace against them and try to negate their size," ASU senior guard Kathy Dyess said. The Lady Tribe heeded that advice four days ago by jumping out to an 11-2 lead with four fast-break layups in the first four minutes of the game. ASU senior forward LaTanya Jones had seven steals and held USAÕs leading scorer, 6-1 center Tamara Carter (16 points per game), scoreless in the first half. Jones does not think the upcoming clash will be as easy as this weekend's thrashing. "It's not easy to beat anyone three times," she said. "They'll definitely be after us." ASU lost its opening game in the SBC tournament last season to New Orleans but has beaten USA 76-68 and 83-67. A coin toss also made the regular season co-champs Louisiana Tech and Western Kentucky as the top two seeds. Western Kentucky is seeded first and La. Tech second. Dyess and Jones were distressed after discovering they lost the coin toss but expressed relief to know they were seeded in a favorable bracket. If the Lady Indians win, they will face the winner of the WKU-Southwestern Louisiana matchup at 8:30 p.m. Thursday. WKU has won the tournament four of the past six seasons, but ASU split two regular season games with the Lady Hilltoppers this season. No. 7 Louisiana Tech is on the other side of the bracket and drubbed the Lady Tribe twice this season. Tech and WKU split games also. The championship game will be played at noon Saturday to determine the tournament champion and NCAA tournament automatic qualifier. ASU head coach Jeff Mittie said he is unsure about his team's NCAA hopes. "I don't have any idea at this point," Mittie said. "We'll have to get to the (SBC tourney) championship game, and I don't know if that will be enough for a bid." The tournament champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, and the NCAA also extends at-large bids to teams. Mittie said he thinks the strength of ASUÕs schedule and wins against ranked teams like Illinois and Western Kentucky will help their chances for an at-large bid. ASU point guard Tia Kemp said they must win the conference tournament to go to the NCAAs. ASU led the SBC standings for much of the season before losing to league powerhouses Tech and Western Kentucky. The Lady Tribe led the conference in three-pointers per game (6.3) and steals per game (12.8). The team finished second in scoring at 77.3 points a game. Individually, guards Kathy Dyess and Tia Kemp led the conference with 4.3 and 4.2 assists per game, respectively. Junior forward Amy Towne finished fourth in scoring with 15 points per game, and freshman Julie Hagood is 12th with 12 points per game. |