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18th-ranked Clayton State drew the top seed in the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional, meaning head coach Dennis Cox’s Lakers will play host to the Regional at the Athletics and Fitness Center starting on Friday. This will be the third straight NCAA Division II National Tournament appearance for Clayton State, but the first time ever that Clayton State has hosted a Division II National Tournament event in women’s basketball.
Clayton State (25-5) will battle eighth-seeded Carson-Newman (21-9) in the first round. It was the Eagles that basically opened the door for the Lakers to gain the top seed as Carson-Newman shocked Wingate in the semifinals of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament. Wingate entered the tournament ranked ahead of Clayton State in the South Atlantic Region poll.
This is not the first time that Clayton State has squared off against Carson-Newman in the NCAA Tournament. In their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2005, the Lakers dropped a 75-61 decision to Carson-Newman in the second round of the South Atlantic Regional.
Other first round match-ups pit second seeded North Carolina Central against seventh-seeded Newberry, third-seeded Wingate against sixth-seeded Georgia College and fourth-seeded Elizabeth City State against fifth-seeded Columbus State.
The game times for Friday’s first round is 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 6 p.m.
and 8 p.m. The semifinals on Saturday will be at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.
and the championship game on Monday will be at 7 p.m. |
Belt Conference Tournament. For the reward, the Clayton State Laker
women are staying home (literally) for the NCAA Division II National
Tournament.