March 9, 2008

After wrapping up the 2007-08 regular season with a 12-16 (.429) overall record and a 9-7 (.563) Southland Conference mark, the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks enter the 2008 SLC Championship tournament as the No. 5 overall seed. SFA enters the tournament having won two straight, and five-of-its-last-seven contests, including a 57-54 victory over Texas-San Antonio in the regular-season finale. For the third consecutive season, the Ladyjacks will open the conference tournament against Lamar Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. The fourth-seeded Lady Cardinals enter the postseason with a 17-12 (.586) overall record, and a 10-6 (.625) league mark. Lamar enters the tournament riding a three-game win streak. If the Ladyjacks defeat Lamar, they will face the winner of the No. 1 Texas State vs. No. 8 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi game Friday at 2:30 p.m. The other half of the bracket will have No. 2 Texas-Arlington against No. 7 McNeese State, and No. 3 Texas-San Antonio facing No. 6 Northwestern State. The SLC Championship game will be played Saturday at 3 p.m., and will be televised on Fox Sports Southwest. All tournament games will be played in the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas.

The Ladyjacks enter the 2008 SLC Championships looking to win their 16th SLC tournament title and make their 19th appearance in the NCAA Championships. SFA is making its 21st consecutive trip to the conference playoffs.

The Ladyjacks have been the league's most dominant team in the conference tournament. SFA is 38-5 (.884) all-time in the SLC Championships. The Ladyjacks have earned the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Championships 14 times, with two runner-up finishes.

The Ladyjacks are 40-4 (.909) all-time against Lamar, but dropped the only meeting between the schools this season, 72-70. SFA has won 15-of-the-last-17 meetings, but the Lady Cardinals have taken two of the past three. The Ladyjacks are a perfect 2-0 all-time against Lamar in the SLC Championship tournament. Wednesday's game will mark the third consecutive season that SFA has opened the postseason tournament against the Lady Cardinals.

An early indicator to figure out if the Ladyjacks will win is their shooting percentage. The Ladyjacks are a perfect 9-0 this season when shooting at least 40 percent from the floor.