JACKSON, Tenn. - For the second consecutive season the Lee women's basketball team will be dancing as it qualified for the NCAA D2 National Tournament as a No. 6 seed in the South Region and will host third-seeded GSC rival North Alabama on Friday at 1 p.m.

No. 1 seed Union University will be the host for the South Region Championship and will draw the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Champion, Clark Atlanta. No. 2 Florida Southern will take on No. 7 Valdosta State and No. 4 Embry-Riddle will tangle with No. 5 Eckerd. 

Lee enters the tournament with a 23-7 overall mark. The Lady Flames defeated West Georgia, 88-78 in the GSC Quarterfinals before losing to GSC champion Union, 66-56 in the semifinals last Saturday in Birmingham.

The Lions are 24-4 on the year but were upset at home in the GSC Quarterfinals, 70-65 at the hands of West Alabama.

For the full bracket, general information and other game times visit the South Region Tournament Page

THE MATCHUP
The Lady Flames fell in the final seconds to the Lions in their only meeting this season down in Florence, Ala back on Dec. 18. Savannah Stults made the backend of a pair of free throws with 0.3 seconds left to turn back the Lady Flames' comeback and hand North Alabama a 63-62 win. Lee is 2-7 all-time against UNA.

Together the two teams had five players named to the GSC All-Conference team. Seniors Erin Walsh (1st Team) and Carrie Cheeks (2nd Team) represented the Lady Flames while North Alabama had three players take home first team honors in Emma and Ivy Wallen and Brittany Panetti.

Cheeks scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the GSC semifinal game against Union while Walsh added 15 points and eight rebounds. Walsh leads the team with 12.8 ppg and is eighth in the storied history of the women's basketball program with 1,796 points.

Coach Marty Rowe has also gotten solid production from seniors Shelby Brown and Haley Cornellison over the last few games. Brown had 11 points and nine rebounds in the GSC quarterfinals while Cornellison came off the bench to hit three big triples and grab five rebounds.

For the Lions it all centers on their all-conference players. Emma Wallen averages 18.6 ppg and has canned 100 3-pointers on the season while Panetti puts in 16 ppg and grabs 7.2 rpg. Unfortunately for North Alabama Ivy Wallen (17.5 ppg) had her season cut short due to a knee injury. 

Something will have to give on Friday night as North Alabama leads the league in scoring averaging 81.5 ppg while the Lady Flames give up a conference-low 54.8 ppg.

"We're excited to get the chance to continue our season and have the opportunity to play North Alabama. We played them in December and it was a great game, so we wouldn't expect anything different this time around," said Rowe, who is in his 14th year as leader of the Lady Flames and recently celebrated 500 career victories. "UNA is really good in transition and competes extremely hard on both ends of the floor but we're looking forward to the challenge and can't wait for Friday. It's a great accomplishment for our program to have qualified for the national tournament for the second consecutive year, it's something we're proud of and want to continue to build on in the future."
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Fans can listen to George Starr bring you the play-by-play on Mix 104.1 FM locally or online audio stream . Coverage will begin with the Pizza Hut Pregame Show at 12:50 p.m. on Friday.

Live stats - http://www.sidearmstats.com/uu/wbball/

Live video - http://www.uuathletics.com/watch/?Archive=100&type=Live

CHEEKS NAMED TO GSC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Playing some of her best ball in her four-year career Cheeks was named to the GSC All-Tournament team as she scored 17 points and grabbed five rebounds in the quarterfinal round and tallied a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards in the semifinals.

The Ranger, Ga. native is 16th on the Lee all-time scoring list with 1,260 career points and is eighth in rebounds with 810. 

NEXT UP
It's win or go home time from here on out in the NCAA Tournament. With a win on Friday the Lady Flames would play the winner of No.2-seed Florida Southern and No.7-seed Valdosta State on Saturday at 6 p.m. The region championship is set for Monday at 8 p.m.