LAKE CHARLES, La. — The Sugar Bears will play their regular-season finale at 11 a.m. on Saturday, taking on McNeese State in a battle of teams currently locked in a three-way tie for 5th place in the Southland Conference standings with the conference tournament looming next week in Katy, Texas.
The Sugar Bears (17-12) and Cowgirls (16-12) are both 10-7 in Southland play, tied with reigning Southland tournament champion Northwestern State. Those three teams are a game behind Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for the 4th seed and final position for a first-round bye.
UCA could still finish in any of the 4-7 positions in next week's tournament, depending on how the final day of action plays out around the league.
To land the 4th seed, the Sugar Bears would need to defeat the Cowgirls and have both Abilene Christian win at A&M-Corpus Christi and New Orleans win at Northwestern State. In a three-way tie between UCA, A&M-Corpus Christi and NSU at 11-7, the Sugar Bears would be the 5th seed with NSU 4th and Corpus 6th. If the Islanders win and Sugar Bears were to end up tied with only NSU at 11-7, UCA would be the 6th seed. If both the Sugar Bears and Lady Demons both lose to end up at 10-8, NSU would get the 6th seed and the Sugar Bears would finish 7th.
The 5 & 8 seeds will meet in the first game of the women's tournament next Thursday at 11 a.m., with the 6 & 7 seeds to follow at 1:30 p.m. The No. 4 seed receives a first-round bye and would play next Friday at 11 a.m. against the winner of the 5-8 matchup.
The Sugar Bears will be looking to win in Lake Charles for the fourth straight year, having won 65-50 last season at the Lake Charles Civic Center after a 77-69 overtime win in Burton Coliseum in 2013 and a 64-53 win at Burton in 2012. The Cowgirls have won the last three meetings away from Lake Charles, including the last two games between the teams. McNeese won 65-63 in the Farris Center on February 18, and ended the Sugar Bears' season last year with a 66-62 win last year in Katy.
The Cowgirls have been off since a 73-68 loss to Nicholls on Feb. 28, while the Sugar Bears suffered a 53-43 loss to the Colonels in Thibodaux on Thursday. McNeese has lost two of its three games since defeating the Sugar Bears, having split with Lamar on Feb. 21 and 26 in addition to the Nicholls loss.
The Sugar Bears and Cowgirls are two of four teams who will be making their 5th straight Southland tournament appearance this year, joining league frontrunners Stephen F. Austin and Lamar.
