BLUE MOUNTAIN, Miss. – The University of Tennessee Southern women's basketball team shot the ball well, but Blue Mountain Christian shot it even better. The Firehawks fell 81-70 on Saturday. Kassidy Broussard led the Firehawks with 17 points. Faith Eubank added 15 points and eight rebounds. Aaryn Grace Lester tossed in 12 points and nine assists. Mary Claire Pike had a career high of 12 points.

UT Southern (7-18, 4-14) hung tough with the Toppers but were outscored in each quarter but the third. BMCU led 39-32 at the half.

In the second half, UTS connected on 12 of 31 field goals but couldn't close the gap. The Firehawks would outrebound the Toppers 30-29.

SSAC CHAMPIONSHIP

The regular season is done, and the seeds are set for the 2024 SSAC Women's Basketball Championship, presented by Newk's Eatery. Loyola and William Carey finished as Co-Champions in regular season action, with the Wolf Pack claiming the No. 1 seed and automatic bid due to tiebreakers. 

The four-day, single-elimination tournament will conclude with the title game Saturday at 4 p.m. CST. All games are being played at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl. Tickets are being sold online only and can be purchased at ssacsports.com/tickets. 

Seeds

1. Loyola – 15-3

2. William Carey – 15-3

3. Mobile – 16-4

4. Faulkner – 12-6

5. Life – 11-7

6. Point – 9-9

7. Brewton-Parker – 9-9

8. Stillman – 9-9

9. Blue Mountain – 5-13

10. UT Southern – 4-14

Tiebreakers

Loyola & William Carey | The teams split head-to-head and posted the same record against common opponents. Using the Krause System, Loyola finished with more points to win the tiebreaker.

Point/Brewton-Parker/Stillman | Have to skip head-to-head because Point and Stillman didn't play. All teams didn't play Loyola or William Carey, so you move down to Mobile. Point went 1-1 v. Mobile compared to 0-2 for BPC and Stillman. The remaining BPC/Stillman tiebreaker then goes all the way down to BPC going 2-0 against UT Southern compared to 1-1 for Stillman.

UT Southern & Middle Georgia | Teams split head-to-head. Going with common opponents at the top of the standings working down, UT Southern went 1-1 v. Stillman compared to 0-2 for the Knights.

Wednesday, Feb. 28 at the Multiplex

Game 1: Women          #7 Brewton-Parker vs. #10 UT Southern        9:00 am

Game 2: Women          #8 Stillman vs. #9 Blue Mountain                    12:30 pm

Thursday, Feb. 29 at the Multiplex

Game 3: Women          #3 Mobile vs. #6 Point                                      9:00 am

Game 4: Women          Winner of Game 1 vs. #2 William Carey           12:30 pm

Game 5: Women           Winner of Game 2 vs. #1 Loyola                       4:30 pm

Game 6: Women           #4 Faulkner vs. #5 Life                                      8:00 pm

Friday, Mar. 1 at the Multiplex

Game 7: Women         Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4            1:00 pm

Game 8: Women          Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6            5:00 pm

Saturday, Mar. 2 at the Multiplex:

Championship Game: Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 8           4:00pm

NEXT UP

UT Southern will travel to Montgomery, Ala., facing Brewton-Parker on February 28^th. The matchup between the tenth seed Firehawks and seventh seed Barons will tipoff at nine a.m. BPC swept UTS in season series 63-55 in Mount Vernon and 66-53 in Pulaski.

FOLLOW THE FIREHAWKS

Don't miss a minute of the latest action surrounding UTS Athletics by following the Firehawks on Twitter (@utsathletics), Instagram (@utsouthernathletics), and Facebook (@UTSathletics).