CLEVELAND, Tenn.-The 2023 Gulf South Conference Women's Basketball Championship will begin on Feb. 28 with the quarterfinal matchups hosted on campus by the higher seed. The semifinals and championship rounds will be played at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham, Ala., on March 4-5.   

There will be some extra excitement in the air when No.1 seed Lee hosts No. 8 West Alabama inside Walker Arena on Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. in one of the four GSC playoff openers. Fans could not have asked for much more. It will be a rematch of the Lady Flames against a talented Lady Tiger team that walked away with a 71-66 upset win on Jan. 26. It will also feature two of the top players in the GSC. West Alabama's Bria Dent scored 26 points in the last meeting and averages over 18 points and almost 11 rebounds per game. Lee counters with Haley Schubert who tallies 19 points each start. Haley posted 24 in the last meeting. 

"We are excited to get a chance to host a first-round playoff game again, but that being said we know West Alabama is a team that poses several challenges for our team," said Lee coach Marty Rowe as he began to prepare his team for what he termed the new season. "We respect West Alabama as a group, and they have one of the most dynamic players in the GSC in Dent. We will have to play very well on both ends of the court if we expect to move on in the conference tournament. Playoff basketball is different than the regular season, losing means the end of the season for most teams so the level of intensity seems to be greater with each possession. But that's what we all work for during the regular season, getting a chance to extend our season one game at a time." 

The Lady Flames seemed to be in command during the first half of the Jan. 26 meeting, holding a 36-27 lead. West Alabama stormed back in the second half and outscored Lee 18-9 to tie the game at 45 at the third period break. Dent and teammate Jala Williams went to work in the final frame, outscoring the Lady Flames 26-21 and claiming the victory. The Lady Flames' (23-5) only loss since that contest was to Union this past week while West Alabama has been up and down in posting the 13-15 record. 

If the Lady Flames win over West Alabama they would advance to the semifinals and face the winner of Valdosta State and Montevallo on Saturday at 1 p.m. (EDT). The championship game will be staged on Sunday at 1 p.m. (EDT). In other first round games, No. 2 seed Union is pitted against Delta State and No.3 West Florida is hosting West Georgia.