MELBOURNE, Fla. - [PDF Bracket | WBB Tournament Page] - The opening round of the Sunshine State Conference Women's Basketball Championship presented by Jimmy John's will tip-off on Tuesday, March 3rd. All games throughout the tournament will be hosted on campus sites and broadcasted by member institutions on the
SSC Digital Network.
The University of Tampa earns the No. 1 seed in the postseason tournament following an SSC record 19 wins in league play. It stands as the sixth regular-season title for the Spartans, first since 2013-14. Eckerd College (No. 2), Florida Southern College (No. 3), and Saint Leo University (No. 4) will also host a quarterfinal game in the 2020 championship. Nova Southeastern University (No. 5), Florida Tech (No. 6), Rollins College (No. 7), and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (No. 8) round out this year's tournament field.
QUARTERFINALS AT A GLANCE...
#1 Tampa vs. #8 ERAU - 7:00 PM [Watch Live | Live Stats]
2019-20: UT swept the season series with a 65-40 win in Tampa (Jan. 8) and a 64-47 victory in Daytona Beach (Feb.12)
Tournament History:
Tampa: 35-31 record - 5x champions - 5x runner up
ERAU: 2-2 record - 1x runner up
Tournament Series: First Meeting
NOTES: UT last hoisted the trophy in 2016 as the #5 seed, then ending a six-year championship drought. Last season #2 Tampa was the victim of the fourth ever #7 vs. #2 upset in tournament history, this one coming at the hands of Rollins. A five-seed in 2019, ERAU also did not advance past the quarterfinals. The Eagles did make the championship final in 2018 as a #3 seed in their first-ever SSC tournament. ERAU and UT have never met in the SSC tournament.
Players to Watch:
Tampa: Dori Nagy (Sr., F, Pecs, Hungry) and Lashayla Wright-Ponder (Jr., F, Bloomington, Minn.) sit first (9.8) and third (8.7) in rebounds per game in the SSC as well as third (16.2) and sixth (14.6) in points/g.
ERAU: Nikki Tucker (Jr., F/G, Marshall, Mich.) is only one of three SSC athletes averaging 14 points and seven rebounds/ga(Nagy / Wright-Ponder). Complementing Tucker is Sarah Jones who leads the league in steals/g (2.4) while also leading ERAU with 14.4 points/g.
#2 Eckerd vs. #7 Rollins - 7:00 PM [Watch Live | Live Stats]
2019-20: EC swept the season series with a 74-66 win in Winter Park (Jan. 18) and a 77-66 victory in St. Pete on the final day of the regular season (Feb. 29)
Tournament History:
Eckerd: 14-28 record - 1x champion - 1x runner up
Rollins: 48-29 record - 8x champion - 10x runner up
Tournament Series: 7-2 in favor of Rollins
Last Meeting: #3 EC 67, #7 RC 55 in the 2019 Semifinals.
NOTES: Although Rollins holds the advantage in the series, Eckerd has won the last two tournament meetings. RC has not been back to the championship game since completing back-to-back titles in 2013. Eckerd won its first and only tournament title in 2017 as the #1 seed. The Tritons returned to the title match as the #3 in 2019 but were bested by #1 Florida Southern.
Players to Watch:
Eckerd: The Tritons are a balanced scoring and rebounding team with no player in the Top-10 of either category. Octavia Loll (Sr., G, Akron, Ohio), who won back-to-back SSC Player of the Week awards to end the regular season, is 2nd in SSC assists/g (4.7), tied for third in minutes/g (35.0), and tied for eighth in steals/g (1.5).
Rollins: Jaylyn Harrison (Sr., G, Orlando) has paced the Tars in points/g with 11.3 and is ninth in SSC assists/g (3.1). Harrison is always a threat from deep as she is second in 3PT field goals this season (67) and is sixth in 3PT% (.366).
#3 FSC vs. #6 Florida Tech - 5:30 PM [Watch Live | Live Stats]
2019-20: FSC opened the series with a 72-57 win in Melbourne (Jan. 2), and Florida Tech struck back with a 73-70 win in Lakeland (Feb. 8)
Tournament History:
Florida Southern: 50-26 record - 12x champion - 8x runner up
Florida Tech: 31-26 record - 4x champion - 8x runner up
Tournament Series: 9-6 in favor of Florida Tech
Last Meeting: #6 FT 58, #2 FSC 52 in the 2017 Semifinals.
NOTES: Florida Southern is a two-time defending SSC champion heading into the 2020 event, while Florida Tech reached back-to-back title matches in 2016 and 2017 but lost to Tampa and Eckerd, respectively. FT is currently riding a 17-year title drought.
Players to Watch:
FSC: Julia Jenike (Jr., G, Bethel, Ohio) sits fourth in SSC points/g (15.9) and is tied for second in 3PT% (.419) with 54 three-pointers to her name. Bekki Kalaydjiev (PG, So., Vienna, Austria) is fourth in assists/g (3.9) and second in steals/g (2.1).
Florida Tech: November Morton (So., G, Clearwater, Fla.) leads the Panthers in points/g with 11.4. Team minutes leader, Amanda Allen (Sr., F, Oslo, Norway) averages 34.2 per game, which places her seventh in the SSC. Allen is also tied for fourth in blocks/g (.9) and tied for eighth in steals/g (1.5).
#4 Saint Leo vs. #5 NSU - 7:00 PM [Watch Live | Live Stats]
2019-20: NSU took the first game of the series, 70-67, in Saint Leo (Dec. 7), SLU fired back with an 82-72 victory in Fort Lauderdale nearly two months later (Feb. 1)
Tournament History:
Saint Leo: 7-28 record - 1x runner up
Nova Southeastern: 16-12 record - 3x champion
Tournament Series: 2-0 in favor of NSU
Last Meeting: #1 NSU 97, #8 SLU 54 in the 2015 quarterfinals.
NOTES: Saint Leo grabs its first Top-4 seed since 2014 and is aiming for the program's first-ever tournament championship. The Lions reached the title game in 2013 as the #7 seed where they fell to Rollins. NSU is undefeated in the SSC tournament...when they make it to the title game. The Sharks won in '08 as well as back-to-back in '14 and '15. The four-year absence from the title game has not hurt the program; however, NSU was a national quarterfinalist in 2019.
Players to Watch:
Saint Leo: Amanda Ulrich (Fr., G, Secaucus, N.J.) is all over the SSC leaderboards: points/g (2nd - 16.7), Minutes/g (T3rd - 35.0), Steals/g (T8th - 1.5), and Assists/g (10th - 2.9). Alani Gallagher (Jr., F, Vestal, N.Y.) is one of three players in the league with over 13.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. She is fourth in conference rebounds (8.4/g) and 10th in scoring (13.6/g).
NSU: On both ends of the court, Jordan Tully (Sr., F, Winnipeg, Manitoba) is dominant. Tully leads the league in total scoring (486 points) and points/g (18.0). Defensively, she's tops in blocks (43) and blocks/g (1.6). Tully is also fifth in field goal % (.550), with 175 made field goals.
[COMPLETE TOURNAMENT HISTORY]
Following Tuesday's quarterfinal round, the tournament semifinals will be held on Thursday, March 5th, and the championship final will be played Sunday, March 8th. The SSC champion will receive automatic qualification to the 2020 NCAA Division II Championship, which begins with regional competition on Friday, March 13th. The NCAA will announce championship selections and seeding on Sunday, March 8th,
here.
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