It’s championship day in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, with tournament winners to be determined on both the men’s and women’s side.
Women’s Championship Game -Southern v Arkansas -Pine Bluff 1:00 pm CST
The Lady Jaguars pulled the upset of the tournament, knocking off the preeminent favorite and defending champion Jackson State Friday night. Aleighyah Fontenot’s running three pointer with 0.4 sealed the the Tigers fate, giving the Jags. 65-64 win and securing Southern’s slot in the title game.
The 7-seeded Golden Lions of Arkansas-Pine Bluff upset the no. 2 seed in Alabama A&M and 3-seed Alabama State in games they trailed at the end of three quarters to advance to the title game for the first time in the program’s history.
Men’s Championship Game- #8 Texas Southern v #2 Grambling 4:30 PM CST
Grambling dispatched Bethune-Cookman, 87-72 in the first round and Jackson State 78-69 in the semifinals. Coach Donte’ Jackson has already broken new ground in program history by winning 20 games and would undoubtedly love to add a SWAC Championship to the season’s list of hall marks.
The SWAC Championship game is familiar territory for Texas Southern, having won 6 of the last played tournaments. The Tigers hoisted the hardware last season, decisively defeating Alcorn 87-62 and a win would make three in a row for the Tigers and the third for coach Johnny Jones.
