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by Al Quartemont

Conference tournaments up next for LC men and women

PINEVILLE, La. - The 2011-12 Louisiana College Basketball regular season is over, and by the way things ended, both the men's and women's teams are poised for success at this weekend's respective American Southwest Conference Tournaments.

Monday at H.O. West Field House, in a pair of makeup games against Mississippi College, the Lady Wildcats topped the 100-point mark for a third straight game with a 102-75 win over the Lady Choctaws.

The LC men followed suit and secured the No. 3 seed for the conference tournament by defeating the Choctaws 80-63. The game also marked the return of head coach Gene Rushing to the LC bench after he had undergone hernia surgery Feb. 11 in Texas.

For the Wildcats' men, it was their third straight win at home and an impressive way to cap an otherwise up-and-down season. Senior Korey Salmon played worthy of his final game on his home court as he finished with 24 points, 13 rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

"We came into this game just saying we wanted to play well going into the tournament and to get a run at this thing," Salmon said. "That's what we did tonight."

The Wildcats again had to overcome a sluggish start as they did Saturday against Centenary as LC trailed 38-33 at halftime. But in the second half, the Wildcats found their shot - hitting 18-of-33 for 55-percent including 6-of-15 from 3-point range.

Salmon had plenty of help on offense as junior center Romanaskie Williams scored 12 points and hauled down eight rebounds. Sophomore Doc Welch finished with 15 points, five rebounds and three steals.

As much as anything, the win for LC meant they will avoid, at least for the opening game, having to face ASC top seed Mary-Hardin Baylor in the ASC Tournament.

Instead, the Wildcats, who finished the regular season 10-13 will face Hardin-Simmons which at 19-6 is making back-to-back appearances at the tourney for the first time since 2007-2008. HSU is the West Division’s No. 2 seed and will open the tournament against the Cats at 2:30 p.m. Friday. It's LC's first appearance in the conference tournament since 2007. The winner of the LC vs. Hardin-Simmons game will then face either ETBU or McMurry on Saturday in Belton, Texas.

"I feel that if we keep playing the way we've been playing, we have a chance to win," Williams said. "We just have to play as a team."

As for the LC women, their win Monday served as a final tune-up for the ASC Tournament that they will host this Friday through Sunday. The Lady Wildcats appear to be hitting on all cylinders offensively as LC topped the century mark for the third time in as many games.

LC shot 44-percent from the field against MC and 36-percent from 3-point range (17-for-47). The Lady Wildcats forced the Lady Choctaws into 31 turnovers.

Leading the way for LC was freshman point guard Keana Frank who had a career-high 20 points including 6-of-7 from the floor and 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Frank also had five assists and three steals.

Roslyn Wilmer in her final regular season game at LC poured in 16 points, grabbed six rebounds and came up with four steals. Junior Natosha Gottlieb added 17 points, three assists and three steals. Senior Shasidy Ludgood also had 14 points and three steals.

The Lady Wildcats, 21-3, will open the ASC Tournament in Pineville Friday night in the last of four games. LC will face West Division No. 4 seed Hardin-Simmons, 13-12, at approximately 7:30 p.m.

LC has won 14 of its last 15 games entering the tournament and has a 38-game winning streak on its home floor dating back to Jan. 29, 2009.

The Lady Wildcats raised the ASC trophy, the only East Division team ever to do so, the last time they hosted in 2010.

LC is the highest-scoring team in the country, averaging just under 90 points per game. BUT HSU does have a strong tournament history, having won a league-record six ASC titles – the last coming in 2004.

More details and the ASC Women's Tournament here.

More details on the ASC Men's Tournament here.

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