The Lady Leopards will get to face three of the other five teams at the Classic, beginning with Northern Oklahoma at 7 p.m. today, followed by the Wayland Baptist junior varsity at 3 p.m. Friday and Colby (Kan.) at 1 p.m. Saturday.
The other two teams involved are South Plains and Midland from the Western Junior College Athletic Conference. Both are ranked in the NJCAA Division I preseason poll.
The Lady Leopards finished last season with a 19-13 record and earned their first-ever playoff win under coach Kim Sebek when they beat Midland 80-70 in the Region V Tournament at Mary Hardin-Baylor.
“This gives us a good opportunity to see what the West has to offer this year,” Sebek said about the three-day tournament. “We don’t play either of the West teams, but we should get there early enough to see most of (the opening game between Midland and Colby). So we’ll get an early look at what we may be up against at the regional tournament.”
After beating Midland in the first round last season, the Lady Leopards were pounded by eventual national champion Odessa, 92-67.
Sebek’s main focus at the tournament will be to try to find the best combinations on the floor. She has only four players returning from last season’s team, including a second-team all-conference player in forward Marissa Rauss.
TC will play its home opener at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday against Angelina.
mhood@temple-telegram.com
