No. 1 Florida Gulf Coast
The Eagles are the heavy favorites going into the tournament, finishing the season at a perfect 18-0 in conference. FGCU is lead by red-shirt junior Sarah Hansen with a grand total of 523 points on the season and leads the A-Sun in scoring. The Eagles lead the A-Sun as a team in 11 of 21 categories, the most for any team. FGCU faces off against eighth-seeded Kennesaw State.
No. 2 Stetson University
The Hatters sit four games behind FGCU and finished the season 14-4 in conference. Stetson is led by a pair of seniors over 400 points, Victoria McGowan with 425 and Shanasa Sanders with 400. Stetson lead the conference in field-goal percentage and 3-point percent. The Hatters open up the tournament in a matchup with the Lady Bucs.
No. 3 Mercer
The Bears finished a game behind Stetson, 13-5 in conference. Mercer is led by sophomore Precious Bridges with 489 points, to finish the season second in scoring in the conference. With the hopes of the school looking at the young players, Mercer is a team to watch this year and into the future.
No. 4 USC Upstate
The Spartans are coming into the tournament strong, beating the Lady Bucs at ETSU, and suffered for it, taking a punch from ETSU. The Spartans do not lead, as a team, any category for the conference. Upstate is the dark horse of this tournament, a solid team to keep an eye on.
No.7 ETSU
The Lady Bucs enter the season without late season scoring powerhouse Tiana Burley. In the final game of the season, Burley threw a punch in the last seconds, leading to a one-game suspension. ETSU must now look to a hobbled Destiny Mitchel, as she still struggles to get back on her game since an injury late in the season sidelined her for a time. The Lady Bucs have a long road to the tournament finals and may not have the talent to make it past the first round.
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