A first-round loss to Truman in the MIAA Tournament didn’t do much to hurt the Emporia State women’s basketball team’s NCAA seeding, as the Lady Hornets earned the No. 4 seed in the South Central Regional on Sunday night.
ESU will face fifth-seeded Southwest Baptist (21-9) at 8 p.m. in the first round on Friday in Canyon, Texas.
“I was a little shocked that it was a four (seed),” ESU senior Michelle Stueve said.
ESU was ranked No. 5 in last week’s Regional rankings.
The Lady Hornets (21-6) went 1-1 against SBU during the regular season. ESU fell 76-73 in the first matchup on Jan. 5 before taking a 120-83 win on March 1 at White Auditorium.
“It’s in the conference,” Stueve said, “so we know who they are and we know what they have.”
The rest of the bracket is as follows: West Texas A&M, the No. 1 seed and host, will face Northwest Missouri State, the No. 8 seed; third-seeded Central Oklahoma takes on sixth-seeded St. Mary’s (Texas); and second-seeded Washburn will go up against seventh-seeded Angelo State.
If ESU was to win its first-round game, it would take on the winner of the West Texas A&M-Northwest Missouri State matchup.
For now, though, the Lady Hornets will focus on the Bearcats.
“I think you have to look forward to it,” ESU coach Brandon Schneider said. “I know that everybody gets a little discouraged because they don’t want to play somebody that they’ve seen twice.
“You kind of look forward to playing some other people, but that’s the opponent we’ve been selected to play, so we need to prepare the very best we can.”
Tournament tickets will go on sale at 9 a.m. Tuesday. Tickets can be ordered by calling (806) 651-4424.