Corpus Christi, Texas – The Central Arkansas women's soccer team will make its fourth Southland Conference Tournament appearance in the last five seasons on Wednesday, taking on the Houston Baptist Huskies. The first round matchup between the fourth-seeded Bears and fifth-seeded Huskies is set to begin at 5:00 PM.

Central Arkansas (10-9-0, 7-4-0 SLC) enters the SLC Tournament having won three of its last four matches, including a 2-0 defeat of Houston Baptist (7-6-3, 6-3-2 SLC) in Conway on October 15^th. That match saw Central Arkansas take a 1-0 lead just six minutes in, when Dayna Mounie found Ashley Smith for a back-post goal. Hadley Dickinson would add an insurance goal in the 64^th minute, gathering a rebound off a shot from Alex Moore and hammering it home.

On the season, the Bears rank sixth in the Southland in goals per game, averaging 1.58 per game, while defensively, they have allowed 1.11, good for the third-lowest mark in the conference. All-Southland Conference First Team honoree Stacia Carroll leads the Central Arkansas defense and is joined on the back line by All-SLC honorable mention Kristen Ricks, while in goal, the Bears are anchored by Lauren Mercuri and Anna Hughes. Mercuri, who earned All-SLC honorable mention, is 8-4-0 on the year, and sits in the top-ten in the league in goals against average (5^th – 1.13), save percentage (6^th - .814), and saves per game (10^th – 3.56), while Hughes hasn't given up a goal in her last 320 minutes in goal.

Offensively, the Central Arkansas relies on a pair of All-SLC honorees, in second-teamer Moore and honorable mention selection Smith. Moore has scored three goals on the season, all of which were game-winners, and is tied for third in the league with six assists, while Smith has a four goals and three assists to her name. Mounie has also collected four goals and three assists this season, while Dickinson and Jordan Slim have each chipped in with three goals and an assist.

The Huskies enter Wednesday's match averaging 1.50 goals per game while allowing 1.25 to their opponents. All-SLC second teamer Ellee Hall ranks second in the Southland with eight goals, and brings an impressive postseason resume that includes five goals and an assist in seven SLC Tournament matches, while fellow second-teamer Autumn Wildung has added five goals and All-SLC honorable mention Sabriah Spencer has chipped in five assists.

In goal, the Huskies lean on All-Southland honorable mention selection Alanis Guevara, who ranks 15^th in the nation with an average of 6.47 saves per game and leads the SLC in saves (70) and save percentage (.875) in league play.

The Southland Tournament opens play with four first-round matches tomorrow, with kickoff times set for 11:00 AM, 2:00 PM, 5:00 PM, and 8:00 PM. The winner of the match between Central Arkansas and Houston Baptist will advance to a semifinal match at 7:00 PM on Friday against either top-seeded Lamar or eighth-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.