Hickory, N.C.-- For the second straight season, the Lenoir-Rhyne Women's Basketball Team is preparing for their NCAA Tournament appearance. In total, Friday game will be the Bears seventh NCAA appearance in program history as LR is 1-6 all-time, The Bears earned the No. 4 seed and will play the No. 5 seed Georgia Southwestern State Hurricanes at 7:30 PM on Friday night from Catawba College.  

There is a lot of similarity to last year's tournament for LR, as the Bears earned the No. 4 seed for the second straight season, the Bears are heading back to Salisbury as Catawba is the host once again. The Bears are playing a Peach Belt school in the first round once again. However, the Bears are looking for a different result this go around after Clayton State defeated the Bears in last year's opening round. 

This year's opponent will be a new one for the Bears as LR has yet to see Georgia Southwestern in program history. The Hurricanes come into this game 26-3 on the season after winning both the Peach Belt regular season and tournament titles this year. A year where the Hurricanes were picked just sixth in the Peach Belt pre-season polls. The Hurricanes lost a lot seniors from last year's sweet sixteen team and Hana Haden took over at the helm for the Hurricanes as Haden as lead Georgia Southwest back to the NCAA Tournament in her first year.and took home the Peach Belt Coach of the Year honors. 

This will be the Bears 5th game against a ranked opponent this season as the Hurricanes come into the game ranked 11th in the NBCA Coaches Poll and 13th in the D2CCA Media Poll. LR is 3-1 against teams ranked this season including a win against #12 Catawba, who is the host of the regional.  Bears have actually beaten five of the seven teams in this regional including the top three seeds. So LR is battled tested for a long run this tournament. 

Don't look for a lot of scoring in this game as these teams both lead their conferences in defense. The first team to 60 points is probably the winner as LR held their opponents to just 60.9 points per game while the Hurricanes held their opponents to 55.9 points and have the Peach Belt Defensive Player of the Year in Leah Johnson in the post. Johnson is top 20 in the nation in blocks per game this season. 

Bears are lead by a trio that made the SAC All-Conference team highlighted by Blaikley Crooks. Crooks comes in the game averaging 16.1 points. Crooks versatile will be key in this game as Crooks can score from all spots on the court including shooting 43% from beyond the arc. When the Bears need a key bucket, Emily Harman has delivered time after time in her career as Harman has averaged 12.5 points this season in another all-conference season for the senior. Mikeba Jones will see alot of Johnson down low as Jones has taken over games this season for the Bears in the second half. 

The winner of this game will get the winner of the No. 1 Catawba and No. 8 UNC-Pembroke on Saturday night with the Regional Final being played on Monday night.