MELBOURNE, Fla. - [PDF Bracket | WBB Tournament Page] - The opening round of the Sunshine State Conference Women's Basketball Championship presented by S3 Design will tip-off on Tuesday, March 1st. All games throughout the tournament will be hosted on campus sites and broadcast on the
SSC Digital Network by member institutions.
The University of Tampa earns the No. 1 seed in the postseason tournament following a 17-3 record in SSC play. It stands as the seventh regular-season title for the Spartans, the second consecutive. Florida Southern College (No. 2), Eckerd College (No. 3), and Saint Leo University (No. 4) will also host a quarterfinal game in the 2022 championship. Barry University (No. 5), Nova Southeastern University (No. 6), Lynn University (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]
2021-22: UT swept the season series with a 65-50 win in Daytona Beach (Dec. 8) and a 63-41 victory in Tampa (Feb. 5)
Tournament History:
Tampa: 40-32 record - 6x champions - 5x runner up
ERAU: 2-3 record - 1x runner up
Tournament Series: 1-0 in favor of Tampa
Last Meeting: #1 UT 76, #8 ERAU 36 in the 2020 quarterfinals.
NOTES: UT is the defending SSC Tournament Champion, winning the 2021-22 title. Tampa is 0-2 in title games as the #1 seed (2014 & 2020). The 2021 seeds were drawn at random. A five-seed in 2019 and eight-seed in 2020, 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.
Players to Watch:
Tampa: Kayla Bonilla (Sr., G, Columbus, Ga.) led all scorers in both games between the two programs this season. Melijah Sullivan (Jr., G, Bartow, Fla.) and Dori Nagy (Sr., F, Pecs, Hungary) are the last two SSC Players of the Year in WBB, winning in 2020-21 and 2019-20, respectively.
ERAU: Nikki Tucker (Sr., F/G, Marshall, Mich.) is a two-time All-SSC Second Team rank ninth in points per game and fourth rebounds per game in the SSC. She is only one of two SSC athletes averaging 12 points and seven rebounds per game (Maya Price, Eckerd).
#2 FSC vs. #7 Lynn - 5:30 PM [Watch Live | Live Stats]
2021-22: Florida Southern and Lynn split the regular-season series. The Fighting Knights won 75-43 in Boca Raton (Dec. 11). The Moccasins answered back with a 77-49 victory in Lakeland.
Tournament History:
Florida Southern: 51-28 record - 12x champion - 8x runner up
Lynn: 3-18 record - 1x champion
Tournament Series: 1-0 in favor of Lynn
Last Meeting: #5 LU 65, #4 FSC 63 in the 2010 quarterfinals.
NOTES: Florida Southern and Lynn will meet in the SSC tournament for the second time, despite being conference peers since 1996. FSC comes into the tournament the hottest of all eight teams after winning 10 straight. The last time the Moccasins reached the final and were not a #1 seed was 1999 when they fell to #1 Rollins as the #2 seed. Lynn has advanced out of the quarterfinals just once, in 2010, when they ran the table as the #5 seed.
Players to Watch:
Florida Southern: Whitney Jacob (Gr., F, Parker, Col.) sits second in SSC points per game with 16.6 and ninth in rebounds per game with 6.2. Sharpshooting Julia Jenike (Gr., G, Cincinnati, Ohio) is seventh in league field goal percentage, fifth in three-point percentage, and second in free throw percentage.
Lynn: The Fighting Knights are led by Rachel Romich (Fr., G, Groton, Mass.) and Uloma Enyogasi (Gr., G, Imo State, Nigeria). Both players have 250+, 45+ assists, and 30+ steals. Romich is the conference leader in three-point percentage (.479).
#3 Eckerd vs. #6 NSU - 7:00 PM [Watch Live | Live Stats]
2021-22: Eckerd took both games from Nova Southeastern in 2021-22. First, the Tritons won at home 66-34, then edged the Sharks 64-59 in Fort Lauderdale.
Tournament History:
Eckerd: 17-29 record - 2x champion - 1x runner up
Nova Southeastern: 16-13 record - 3x champion
Tournament Series: 3-0 in favor of NSU
Last Meeting: #3 NSU 75, #8 EC 68 in the 2014 quarterfinals.
NOTES: Eckerd will finally have to defeat NSU to win a third tournament championship. EC is an impressive 9-3 in tournament games since 2016, with three finals and two titles. They made the title match as the #3 in 2019 but were bested by #1 Florida Southern. The Sharks won in '08 and went back-to-back in '14 and '15 but have been held out of the title game since. NSU was a national quarterfinalist in 2019.
Players to Watch:
Eckerd: Maya Price (Jr., C, Bury St. Edmunds, England) had a combined 36 points and 11 rebounds in the two games against NSU. Price is the only SSC women's basketball player averaging 14 points and seven rebounds per game this season. She is also first in blocks per game (2.2) and second in field-goal percentage (.558). Lauryn Viera (So., PG, Haute-Savoie, France) ranks first in league assists per game (6.0) and third in steals per game (2.2).
Nova Southeastern: McKenah Peters (Gr., G, LaGrange, Ohio) ranks third in scoring per game (15.2) and first in three-pointers per game (3.0), while Grace Gilmore (Gr., G, Hartland, Wisc.) sits eighth in conference scoring per game (12.9).
#4 Saint Leo vs. #5 Barry - 7:00 PM [Watch Live | Live Stats]
2021-22: Saint Leo took the first game of the series, 71-68, in Saint Leo (Jan.2). SLU then came from behind to beat the Buccaneers in the final game of the season 80-63 in Miami Shores (Feb. 26). The win secured home-court advantage for the Lions as the two squads will play back-to-back.
Tournament History:
Saint Leo: 9-30 record - 1x runner up
Barry: 15-26 record - 1x champion - 3x runner up
Tournament Series: 2-2
Last Meeting: #7 Saint Leo 73, #2 BU 64 in the 2021 quarterfinals.
NOTES: Rematch the 2021 SSC Tournament Quarterfinals, in which seeds were drawn randomly. Barry looks to break a 29-year tournament championship drought. The Buccaneers' only tournament title came in 1991 but played for the title as recently as 2015. Saint Leo 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. SLU has a two-game quarterfinal win streak dating back to 2020.
Players to Watch:
Saint Leo: Amanda Ulrich (Jr.., G, Secaucus, N.J.) averaged 22.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.5 steals in SLU's two wins over Barry. She is the SSC's points per game leader this season (18.6) and the only player with over 500 total points.
Barry: The Buccaneers have a balanced attack of Harriet Swindells (Sr., G, Blackburn, England), Chiara Fusari (Jr., G, Pavia, Italy), and Emma Hergot (Sr., F, Oslo, Norway). All three are right at 10 points per game. Hergot is the team leader in rebounding (7.5/g), Fusari paces them in steals (2.1/g), and Swindells is the deep thread (2.5/g).
[COMPLETE TOURNAMENT HISTORY]
Following Tuesday's quarterfinal round, the tournament semifinals will be held on Thursday, March 3rd, and the championship final will be played Sunday, March 6th. The SSC champion will receive automatic qualification to the 2022 NCAA Division II Championships. Regional competition will take place at a non-predetermined site beginning on Friday, March 11th. Elite Eight play will take place Monday, March 21st to Friday, March 25th at The Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Alabama. The NCAA will announce championship selections and seeding on Sunday, March 6th,
here.