Conway – After a historic regular season that saw the Central Arkansas women's soccer team rewrite the school's record books, the Bears will look to make even more history on Friday night, facing off with Houston Baptist in the semifinals of the 2016 Southland Conference Tournament. The top-seeded Bears and fourth-seeded Huskies will kick off at 7:00 PM at Jack Dugan Soccer Stadium in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Central Arkansas (15-3-1, 10-0-1 SLC), who became just the fourth program in Southland Conference history to make it through the conference schedule unbeaten, tied for the league-high with seven players named to the All-Southland Conference teams earlier this week. Sophomore Camille Bassett was named the league's Player of the Year and Forward of the Year after leading the SLC in seven offensive categories, including points (30), goals (13), and game-winning goals (5). Fellow All-Southland first team honoree Ashley Smith ranked second in the Southland in goals (11) and points (28) and fourth in assists (6). Defensively, the Bears are led by the duo of junior Stacia Carroll and sophomore Kristen Ricks, who both earned All-Southland second team honors after leading a dominant UCA defense that tallied 11 shutouts while allowing just 0.68 goals per game this season. Juniors Alex Moore (4 goals, 9 assists) and Dayna Mounie (6 goals, 4 assists), and senior Shelby Wilson (7 assists) also earned second team honors after helping lead the Bears to the third-best goal differential in Southland history at plus-33.

In goal, the Bears depend on the platoon of junior Anna Hughes and sophomore Lauren Mercuri, who split time almost exactly evenly for UCA this season. Hughes led the league in goals against average on the season, allowing just 0.53 goals per game and finished second with a .844 save percentage, while Mercuri was second with an 0.82 GAA and .843 save percentage.

This will mark the third time that 2016 Southland Coach of the Year Jeremy Bishop has guided his squad to the SLC Tournament. As the sixth-seed in 2013, the Bears fell to eventual champion Southeastern Louisiana 4-1 in the opening round, while last season, again as the sixth-seed, the Bears lost to third-seeded Sam Houston State 4-3 on penalty kicks after 110 minutes of scoreless play in the first round. The Bears are looking to be the first top seed since 2012 to win the Southland Tournament.

Houston Baptist (8-10-1, 5-5-1 SLC) entered the tournament as the fourth seed, and overcame a one-goal deficit to defeat no. 5 Southeastern Louisiana in the first round Wednesday night thanks to goals from junior Ellee Hall and senior Allison Abendschein. HBU saw five players earn All-SLC honorable mention, and are led by Abendschein's seven goals and four assists on the year. Defensively, the Huskies look to seniors Kristi O'Brien and Elizabeth Adams, who helped guide HBU to four shutouts and a team GAA of 1.68 on the season.

The Bears and the Huskies have met once this season, with Central Arkansas earning a hard-fought, 1-0 victory at HBU's Sorrels Field, thanks to a 25^th-minute goal from Smith. The winner of Friday night's match will face off with the winner of the other semifinal between no. 6 McNeese and no. 2 Stephen F. Austin (4:00 PM Friday) in the SLC Tournament Championship Match, which is set to kick off at 1:05 PM on Sunday afternoon.