JOURNAL SPORTS
The No. 25 LSUS women’s basketball team takes aim this weekend at one of 16 spots in the NAIA National Tournament, playing in Hastings, Neb., and needing to get past the home team to reach Kansas City.
The two-time Red River Athletic Conference champion Pilots face Huntington (Ind.) in the first round at 7 CT tonight. Hastings, seeded one slot above No. 5 LSUS, meets College of the Ozarks (Missouri) in the other game tonight and the winners collide Saturday at 5 to decide who advances to Kansas City.
LSUS (27-3) secured its place in the national tournament with a dominant 23-1 conference record. The Pilots continued their success by clinching the RRAC Championship with a hard-fought 54-51 victory over LSUA in the title game.
The Pilots boast a balanced scoring attack led by Selma Markisic, who averages 12.6 points per game. Helena Galunic is contributing 11.8 points and 6.9 rebounds per contest. Paula Gonzales Herrero is averaging 11.3 points per game.
Huntington (17-12) enters the tournament after finishing fifth in the Crossroads League.
LSUS MEN: As the regional No. 15 seed, LSUS was a bubble team to make the tournament and drew a tough assignment, visiting Georgetown College tonight at 5 CT on its homecourt.
Georgetown College (26-4) and LSUS (18-11) have postseason history together.
Georgetown and LSUS have met twice before in the NAIA National Tournament, with the Tigers coming out on top both times. In 2013, the two programs clashed in a Fab Four thriller, where Georgetown sank a 30-footer at the buzzer to advance to the championship game. The Pilots nearly got their revenge in 2019, but fell just short, 82-79, after missing a go-ahead shot in the final seconds. Georgetown went on to win the national title in both of those seasons.
LSUS relies on senior guard Taj Anderson, topping the lineup with 19.8 points per game, while Tyler Washington gets 5.7 rebounds per contest. Trey Boston is averaging 4.5 assists per game.
The programs are the two most consistent men’s teams this century in NAIA postseason competition. Georgetown leads the nation with 34 consecutive tournament appearances, while LSUS owns the second-longest active streak at 21 straight trips to the national stage.
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) and Saint Francis (Ind.) are the other teams playing at Georgetown. Winners of tonight’s games will meet Saturday at 4 to determine who advances to Kansas City.