College basketball: Catawba women make regional
Published 9:14 am Monday, March 8, 2021
Catawba head coach Terence McCuthcheon. Photo by Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post.
Staff report
On Sunday night, Catawba’s women’s basketball team received an at-large bid to play in the six-team Southeast Regional Tournament.
Carson-Newman’s Holt Fieldhouse is the tournament venue.
Seeded sixth, Catawba (10-3), which overcame three COVID pauses this season, plays third-seeded Carson-Newman (15-3) in an opening-round game on Friday.
Carson-Newman won against Catawba 68-63 at Goodman Gym on Feb. 13 and was the South Atlantic Conference’s regular-season champ. Carson-Newman was upset by eight-seeded Lincoln Memorial early in the SAC tournament.
The other first-round game is fourth-seeded Tusculum (18-3) against fifth-seeded Tuskegee (12-1).
Top-seeded Belmont Abbey (22-2) and second-seeded Barton (12-2) have byes in the first round.
Due to the health and safety protocols surrounding the pandemic, regional sites were awarded to predetermined sites rather than to the top-seeded teams in each region.
Eight six-team regionals will be played March 12, 13 and 15. Regional winners advance to the Elite Eight at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio, March 23, 24 and 26.
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Catawba sophomore Janiya Downs, former South Rowan standout, was named to the SAC all-tournament team. Downs had 31 points and 11 rebounds in Catawba’s two tournament games.
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Tusculum beat Lincoln Memorial 59-47 for the SAC tournament title on Sunday. A Lincoln Memorial victory would’ve put LMU in the regional with an automatic berth and would have knocked Catawba out.
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Four South Atlantic Conference men’s basketball teams earned bids to the Southeast Regional.
The venue is second-seeded Lincoln Memorial’s Tex Turner Arena.
Regional games are scheduled for March 13, 14, and 16.
SAC tournament champion Carson-Newman earned the No. 3 seed. Queens is No. 5, while Tusculum is No. 6.
Carson-Newman beat Queens 88-79 in the SAC tourney championship game on Sunday.
The Southeast Regional is one of eight six-team regionals.
Eight regional champions will advance to the Elite Eight at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind.
