Once again West Tennessee will be well represented at the National Association for Intercollegiate Athletics Division 1 basketball tournament.

The event will be held at Jackson's Oman Arena, starting Wednesday, March 17.

TranSouth Conference members Bethel, Freed-Hardeman and Union join the 32-team field as does NAIA indpendent Lambuth. Familiar TranSouth member, Trevecca Nazarene of Nashville, also made the draw.

Defending national champ and top-ranked Union will be making a record-setting 21st appearance, its 19th straight. The Lady Bulldogs topped crosstown rival Lambuth last year 80-73. Union has won three of the last five national crowns and four overall. The Lady Bulldogs come in reeling a bit after suffering a stunning 75-62 upset to Freed-Hardeman University in the TranSouth championship, ending a 60-game home winning streak.

But the Lady Bulldogs enter the tournament as the top seed with a 31-2 mark and will open their tournament action against Southwest Assemblies of God (Texas), who enters the event at 25-7 overall. They will tip it off 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 17.

SAGU is led by Chelsea Jones, a 5-8 forward, who averages 15.4 points per game. She had a season-best 25 against Jarvis Christian College on Feb. 1. It plays in the Red River Athletic Conference.

Union, meanwhile, is led by 5-10 guard Kaitlin Dudley, a Bradford product, who is averaging 16 points per game. She has company. Zeinab Chan, a 6-4 post, averages 14.5 points and nine rebounds per game. Lavanda Ross, a 5-8 guard from Jackson, scores 13.3 points per contest. Gleason product, Kayla Hudson, a 5-8 guard, is at 11.3 points per game and provides leadership at the point along with deadly perimeter accuracy. UU has won 54 national tournament games, an NAIA record.

Freed-Hardeman, fresh off its TranSouth victory, will take on NAIA veteran Lubbock Christian. FHU is no stranger to a deep tournament run. It reached the Final Four twice, was a quarterfinalist three more times and has earned 14 straight national invitations. Last year, the Lady Lions were knocked out in the second round, but were part of a TranSouth troika in the Final Four two years ago, joining, Lambuth and Union.

Lubbock Christian is 19-11 and lost an overtime thriller in its conference championship to Oklahoma City (79-77). Lubbock has a fairly balanced attack, led by Brittany Hampton, who leads the team at 11.6 p.p.g. The Lady Chaparrals were 5-5 in their last 10 games. They play in the Sooner Athletic Conference.

Meanwhile, FHU seems to be peaking at the right time after taking down Union. Jana Cross, 5-10 guard, was last year's State Farm NAIA player of the year and comes into the tournament at 16.2 points per game. She leads a stable of four Lady Lions who are averaging double digits. Meribeth Boehler is at 14.3, Hannah Parsley averages 11.7 and Tara Deathridge is on a 10.8 clip. The Lady Lions have won eight of their last 10 games, but their two losses came at the hands of tourney invitees Union and Bethel.

Freed and Lubbock Christian duel 8 p.m. Thursday, March 18 at Oman Arena.

Speaking of Bethel, 21-10, it makes its second Division 1 tournament appearance against Columbia College (Mo.) 12:30 p.m. Thursday at Oman Arena. Bethel made a Division 2 appearance in 2006. Last year, the Lady wildcats held a 13-point halftime lead over eventual semifinalist Oklahoma City before suffering a late drought and eventual 74-72 loss.

Bethel returns much of its team that had a historic run. And the team it returns is rather formidable when it's hitting on all cylinders. Nina Djokovic, 6-1 post from Belgrade, Serbia, leads the team with 20 points and 10 rebounds per game and ranks sixth nationally in scoring and 10th in rebounding. Point guard Kashundria Berry has picked up the leadership mantle and averages 10.3 points per game. Four other players average between seven and nine points per game. Bethel is another team that could be peaking at the right time, ending the season on an 8-2 run. It ended the season ranked No. 17.

Columbia is 28-5 entering the event and ranked No. 11 nationally. It's the seventh trip the tournament for the Lady Cougars and their second straight. They are buoyed by four double-digit scorers. Rachel Oswald, 6-0, scores 15.2 points per game. Veronica Smith is at 13.6, Whitney Widman is at 12.3 and Denise Rosario averages 11.5. The Lady Cougars take part in the American Midwest Conference.

Lambuth, 19-9, the 2008 national champion and last year's finalist, makes its fourth straight appearance in the tournament against Westminster (Utah) 5:45 Wednesday evening. Lambuth is in the same quarter as its crosstown rival Union.

The Lady Eagles just won the A.I.I. tournament in South Carolina to qualify for the NAIA draw and come into the post-season ranked No. 24. Westminster is ninth nationally and a member of the Frontier Conference.

The Lady Griffins are no strangers to Jackson, Tenn., Lambuth, Union and Freed-Hardeman. They took part in the Jackson Rotary Classic Nov. 19-21. They lost to Union 93-68, defeated Lambuth, who was ninth at the time, 95-88 and lost to then-No. 6 FHU 101-74. McKenzie Jessop, a 5-11 guard, leads Westminster in scoring. She averages 13.9 points per game and 7.1 rebounds. Five other players are scoring in double digits. Keisha Catten (13.2), Nicole Yazzie (13.1), Michelle Pace (13.0), Allie Eastman (11.7) and Dani Evans (10.6) lead a balanced attack.

Lambuth is led by Jenee Webb, who averages nearly 20 points per game. LaTonya McKinney scores 13.4 points. McKinney also pulls down over seven rebounds per game.


The runs through March 23. The tipoff for the finals will be 9 p.m.