OKLAHOMA CITY -- After being picked fourth in the preseason coaches poll, John Brown University claimed the top seed in the 2024 Sooner Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament presented by the Oklahoma Ford Dealers after finishing the season with a 25-3 overall record and an unblemished mark of 22-0 in conference action. The conference tournament will begin on Thursday, Feb. 29, at the sites of the higher seeds.
The No. 13 ranked Golden Eagles rallied in the second half to defeat Mid-America Christian 77-70 Saturday afternoon to become the first team to go undefeated in conference play since Oklahoma City went 16-0 in the 2012-13 season. This is also the first time that John Brown has won the SAC regular season title in program history and will enter the postseason on a 23-game winning streak.
Langston University will enter the postseason tournament as the number two seed while Wayland Baptist joins the field as the No. 3 seed with Mid-America Christian coming into the tournament as the No. 4 seed.
The Golden Eagles will play host to No. 8 seed Texas Wesleyan on Thursday with the tip set for 6 p.m. in Siloam Springs, Ark. The Rams enter the postseason with an overall record of 13-15 and a conference mark of 9-13. John Brown won both regular season matchups this season as the Golden Eagles won their first meeting against the Rams on Jan. 18, 55-50, and then took a 56-43 victory at home on Feb. 17.
Langston will welcome the No. 7 seed Eagles of Southwestern Christian on Thursday evening with the start time set for 6 p.m. The Lions will enter tournament action with a 22-6 overall record and finished the regular season with a 17-5 league record. The Eagles come into tournament play with an overall mark of 15-13 and an 11-11 conference record. Langston also won both regular season contests this season as the Lions won their home matchup against the Eagles on Jan. 6, 76-47, and then defeated the Eagles on the road on Feb. 10, by a score of 79-73.
The Flying Queens of Wayland Baptist will host No. 6 seed Southwestern Assemblies of God in Plainview, Texas, on Thursday at 6 p.m. Wayland Baptist wrapped up the season with an overall record of 21-8 and a league mark of 16-6 while the Lions finished with an overall record of 16-11 and a conference record of 13-9. The two teams split their regular season games with the Flying Queens winning at home on Jan. 11, 67-58 while SAGU won the season finale over Wayland Baptist 71-50 earlier today.
In the final quarterfinal matchup, the Evangels will welcome No. 5 seed Science & Arts on Thursday at 6 p.m. Mid-America Christian finished the regular season with an overall record of 21-7 while finishing conference action with a record of 15-7. The Drovers will enter the postseason with an overall record of 19-9 and also finished league play with a record of 15-7. Mid-America Christian earned the higher seed over the Drovers by winning both regular-season contests. The Evangels won the first meeting on Dec. 11, 2023, by a score of 90-75 while taking a 79-78 road victory on Feb. 3.
The winners of the four quarterfinal games will head to the Sid Richardson Center on the campus of Texas Wesleyan for the conference semifinals that will be played on Monday, March 4 with the first semifinal starting at 6 p.m. while the second semifinal will start at 8 p.m. The tournament championship will be contested on Tuesday, March 5 starting at 8 p.m.
Tickets for the Sooner Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament are conveniently available online through GoFan, and can be preordered here. A tournament pass provides exclusive access to all sessions.
Follow all of the action of the 2024 SAC Women’s Basketball Championship at www.soonerathletic.org.