Tigers Play HPU: ASC Women's Basketball Tournament Bracket Announced

RICHARDSON, Texas (2/18/13) –– Howard Payne won the American Southwest Conference West Division title with a 16-3 league record and earned the right to host the 2013 ASC Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament, to be held Feb. 22-24 at Brownwood Coliseum in Brownwood, Texas.

The entire eight-team, single elimination event – being played for a 15th-straight year – will be available for fans to watch online for free. All links – including those to live stats, broadcasts, box scores, game recaps, bracket, photos and post-game interviews – can be found on the conference’s Tournament Central page (www.ASCsports.org) and Howard Payne’s athletic website (www.hpusports.com).

Howard Payne (21-4) and head coach Josh Prock, who won the West Division title for the fourth time in seven years, will begin play at 7:30 p.m. Friday against East Division No. 4 seed East Texas Baptist (16-9). HPU, winners of 15 of its last 17 games, has hoisted five league trophies – including every time it has hosted the conference event (2007, 2009 and 2011). ETBU returns to the ASC tournament after a two-year absence.

Louisiana College (22-3) and head coach Jason Tinsley enter as victors of the East Division for the fourth straight season. The Lady Wildcats went 17-2 in league play with both of their losses coming in overtime. LC, which leads the nation in scoring at 87.6 points per game, begins its quest for a second conference title Friday when it tips off in the first quarterfinal at noon against the West Division’s No. 4 seed, Mary Hardin-Baylor (8-16). UMHB is back in the event after missing last year.

Defending conference champion Concordia Texas (17-8) enters as the West No. 2 seed and will open play at 2:30 p.m. Friday against the East’s No. 3 seed, Texas-Tyler (17-8). CTX, which had not won an ASC tournament game before last year, is making back-to-back appearances in the event for the first time in program history. UT Tyler is in the event for the first time since 2009.

Texas-Dallas (17-8) is the East’s No. 2 seed and at 5 p.m. Friday will take on West No. 3 seed Hardin-Simmons (13-12). UTD has put together seven straight appearances in the ASC tournament after never having qualified before that. HSU has won a record six conference titles (1999-2004) and is the only team to have qualified every year.

The semifinals are scheduled to tip off Saturday at 2 p.m. (LC-UMHB winner vs. CTX-UT TYLER winner) and 4:30 p.m. (UTD-HSU winner vs. HPU-ETBU winner), with the championship game coming Sunday at 2 p.m.

The ASC tournament winner earns an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championship.