KATY, Texas — After a five-year wait, the time has come for Central Arkansas' first Division I postseason action.

The Sugar Bears, seeded No. 3, will take on the No. 6 Ladyjacks of Stephen F. Austin today at 2:30 p.m. in the first day of the 2011 State Farm Southland Conference Basketball tournament.

The game can be heard on 91.FM The Bear or via audio streaming at ucagameday.com. The game can also be viewed free on SLC Now, the conference's web streaming service. Live Stats and other information can be found on the Southland's tournament page.

The Sugar Bears (19-10, 11-5 Southland) and Ladyjacks (12-17, 9-7) met in the Farris Center earlier this season in a 78-66 UCA win. Megan Herbert, the 2010-11 Southland Conference Player of the Year, had 27 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Sugar Bears. Nakeia Guiden, an All-Southland honorable mention selection for the second year in a row, had 18 points, 6 assists, and 4 steals. Micah Rice also added 19 points.

In three career games against SFA, Herbert is averaging 29.3 points and 16.3 rebounds.

SFA is led by second-team All-Southland performer Tammara Marion, who averages 16 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. The Ladyjacks' second-leading scorer is Jordan Ford at 9.9 per game. Ford led SFA with 17 points in the teams' first meeting this season.

It will be the eighth meeting between the teams, with SFA holding a 6-1 advantage in the series.

The Sugar Bears, who last experienced postseason play in 2006 when they were eliminated by West Georgia in the opening round of the Gulf South Conference tournament, are looking for their first postseason victory since 2005 when they went 28-7 and advanced to the NCAA Division II national semifinals.

A win in this afternoon's game would give the Sugar Bears their second consecutive 20-win season, joining Lamar as the only Southland teams to do so in the previous two seasons.

While UCA is new to the Southland tournament, SFA is on the exact opposite end of the spectrum. The Ladyjacks are making their 24th consecutive appearance and have won a Southland-leading 15 conference tournament titles. This is only the fifth time in their storied history that they have been seeded outside the top four in the tournament. For all their success, however, little has come of late. The Ladyjacks have not won a game in the tournament since 2006.

The winner of today's game will face the winner of the Lamar/Northwestern State game on Thursday at 12:05 p.m.