Benedict women earn 6-seed in NCAA DII tournament
COLUMBIA, S.C. — After repeating at SIAC champions on Saturday, the Benedict Lady Tigers now know their first-round opponent in the NCAA DII tournament.
Benedict (23-7, 12-3 SIAC) earned a 6-seed in the South Region, and will face Lee (24-7, 15-5 Gulf South Conference) in the first round on March 11. Union (TN) will host the regional as the No. 1 seed.
The winner of Friday’s contest will face the winner between 18th-ranked Tampa (29-5), the Sunshine State Conference tournament champions, and 21st-ranked Valdosta State (23-5) in the region semifinals on Saturday.
The region championship game is Monday, March 14. The region winner advances to the Division II Elite Eight, which will take place March 21-25 at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala.
The Lady Tigers senior-loaded roster is led by Ay’Anna Bey (14.5 points per game, 7.8 rebounds per game), Wykira Johnson-Kelley (12.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 100 assists) this season.
Benedict won the 2020 SIAC Championship, and was set to play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before the championship was cancelled due to Covid. The SIAC did not play a conference schedule or conference tournament last year due to Covid, as well.
