SSU Release

The Shawnee State women’s basketball will begin its postseason journey Thursday as the Bears travel to Frankfort, Ky. for the Mid-South Tournament.

Shawnee State (22-8, 13-7 MSC) finished fourth in the MSC during the regular season and will play fifth-seeded St. Catharine (19-10, 11-9 MSC). In the Bears’ first two seasons in the Mid-South, they entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed and advanced to the championship game both times before falling in the finals.

SSU and St. Catharine split their two regular season meetings. In the opening meeting, the Patriots beat SSU in overtime at St. Catharine, 80-78.

The Bears won on their home court just two weeks later, 75-63. The third meeting will take place on the neutral court of the Frankfort Convention Center. In neutral site meetings this season, the Bears are a perfect 6-0.

The Bears have three players that are averaging at least 12 points per game this season. In conference play, those same three players are averaging over 13 points per game.

Schera Sampson leads the team in points (14.7), rebounds (10.5), steals (1.8) and blocks (1.9) per game. She ranks seventh in the NAIA in total blocks (58), eighth in total rebounds (316), ninth in blocks per game, 10th in rebounds per game and 11th in defensive rebounds per game (6.9).

Alannah Sheets and Alex Pohl became the two newest members of the Shawnee State 1,000-point club this past season. Pohl is tied for 15th in program history with 1,205 points.

The senior is averaging 12.3 points per game this season. She is ranked 23rd in the NAIA in free throw percentage (79.2%) and 38th in total rebounds (238).

Sheets, a junior, is ranked 17th in program history with 1,195 points. Sheets is averaging 13.8 points per game. She is 22nd in the NAIA in free throw percentage (79.3%), 36th in 3-pointers made (36) and 44th in 3-pointers made per game (2.0).

The Bears will be the second game of the day on Thursday. The tournament gets underway at 2 p.m. with top-seeded Cumberland (27-2, 18-2 MSC) taking on eighth-seeded Lindsey Wilson (16-14, 7-13 MSC).

After SSU, second-seeded Georgetown (21-8, 15-5 MSC) will take on seventh-seeded Bluefield (16-14, 8-12 MSC) at 6 p.m. Thursday’s quarterfinal round finishes with third-seeded Campbellsville (22-8, 14-6 MSC) against Cumberlands (18-11, 11-9 MSC) at 8 p.m.

The Bears have beaten every team with the exception of Georgetown — a team the Bears would not see until the finals. They own season sweeps over Bluefield, Campbellsville, Lindsey Wilson and Pikeville.

The winners of the first two quarterfinals will meet Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. while the second two quarterfinal winners will play Saturday at 4 p.m. The championship game will be 2:30 p.m. and will be aired on Fox College Sports.