March Madness begins Thursday as Nashville welcomes 12 Southeastern Conference women’s basketball teams to the Gaylord Entertainment Center for the SEC Tournament.
One team will be crowned 2004 SEC Champion in the 25th anniversary of the tournament. The winner receives an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament later this month.
LSU earned a No. 2 seed in the tournament this season and is the defending tournament champion. The Lady Tigers defeated Tennessee 78-62 in the 2003 tournament in Little Rock, Ark.
The top four seeds — Tennessee, LSU, Auburn and Florida — enjoy a first-round bye and do not play until Friday. The rest of the field begins tournament play at noon on Thursday.
Tennessee (25-2, 14-0 SEC)
Winning 34 consecutive regular season conference games, the Lady Vols are the favorite team to win this year’s tournament. Tennessee leads the conference in scoring with 76.6 points per game and is led by forward Shyra Ely, who averages 14.9 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.
LSU (22-6, 10-4 SEC)
Although LSU won the 2003 edition of the tournament, the Lady Tigers are not heavily favored to repeat as champs. Despite leading the conference in numerous statistical categories — field-goal percentage, assists, turnover margin and assist-to-turnover ratio — LSU dropped six conference games this season, including its first home conference loss since the end of 2003.
Auburn (21-7, 9-5 SEC)
Had Auburn defeated Florida on Sunday, the Lady Tigers would have been the No. 2 seed in the tournament. No one in the conference outrebounds its opponents better than Auburn with a rebounding margin of +10.4 per game.
Florida (18-9, 8-6 SEC)
Vanessa Hayden does it all for Florida, averaging 19.0 points, 10.7 rebounds and 3.59 blocks per game. In Florida’s 71-60 victory against No. 20 Auburn last Sunday, Hayden inked 22 points and five rebounds for the Gators.
Georgia (19-8, 8-6 SEC)
Despite losing its leading scorer Kara Braxton, the Lady ‘Dawgs earned the No. 5 seed in the tournament. Braxton was suspended indefinitely earlier this season for violating unspecified team rules. Christie Thomas now leads Georgia with 13.1 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.
Vanderbilt (20-7, 8-6 SEC)
Besides the always-hot Tennessee, Vandy is the hottest team in the conference. The Lady ‘Dores have won four straight SEC games, including handing LSU its first home loss in 13 games.
Ole Miss (17-12, 7-7 SEC)
First-year coach Carol Ross turned around what was a dismal women’s basketball program in one season, earning the No. 7 seed with the Lady Rebels. Freshman sensation Armintie Price quietly leads Ole Miss, averaging 15.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. She scored 18 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in Ole Miss’ regular season finale against Arkansas.
Mississippi State (13-14, 7-7 SEC)
The best thing about Mississippi State might be the consistent play of guard Tan White. In conference play, White leads all SEC scorers with 22.8 points per game and is first in the conference with 41 steals.
Arkansas (16-11, 5-9 SEC)
When teams prepare for Arkansas, they prepare for forward Shameka Christon. One of the SEC’s most prolific scorers, Christon averages 21.9 points per game and dropped 33 points in a loss to Ole Miss last Sunday.
Alabama (12-15, 4-10 SEC)
The Crimson Tide rank at the bottom of most SEC statistical categories this season, except for 3-point field goals made. Bama averages 6.04 3-pointers a game for a total of 164 this season, which is second in the conference.
Kentucky (11-16, 3-11 SEC)
The lone bright spot for Kentucky this season has been the performance of guard Sara Potts. Potts averages 16.7 points per game and is second in the conference in 3-pointers made with 64.
South Carolina (10-17, 1-13 SEC)
Not much has gone right for South Carolina this season. Only 1,089 fans watched South Carolina’s lone SEC victory, which came Feb. 12 versus Alabama.