South Arkansas College’s women’s basketball team heads into the postseason on a high note.
Fresh off of picking up a road victory to close the regular season, the Stars will try to pick up their first postseason victory.
SouthArk (2-16), the No. 5 seed, faces North Arkansas College (9-15), the No. 4 seed, in the opening round of the NJCAA Division II Region II Tournament at 1 p.m. today at Rhodes Fieldhouse on the campus of Harding University.
The winner advances to face top-seeded SAU Tech in the semifinals on Friday.
The Lady Pioneers won both meetings during conference play by scores of 80-48 and 88-70.
Turnovers were a factor for SouthArk, which had 28 and 22 turnovers respectively in the two games. SouthArk also shot just 35% combined from the floor in the two games.
Karsen Edwards proved to be a thorn in the Stars’ side in the two games, scoring 27 points in the first contest before registering a double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds in the second game.
Edwards is North Arkansas’ leading scorer at 14.6 points per game. Kaliahni Jacklik averages 12 points, while Sydney Standridge is at 11.2 and Kailynn Garis is at an even 10 points per game.
Standridge is the team’s leading rebounder at 6.3 per game.
Tazayyah Bufford had 25 points for SouthArk in the first encounter and 19 points along with 7 assists in the rematch.
Kylee Portilloz had a double-double in the second game with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
A sophomore, Portilloz has been a double-double machine down the stretch, posting seven straight with a season-high of 30 points in the Stars’ 86-82 win at Arkansas State Mid-South on Thursday. She also had 16 rebounds in the contest.
Portilloz is averaging a double-double for the season at 18.9 points and 10.4 rebounds per game.
In Thursday’s win, Bufford had 27 points and 7 assists, while Emma Kate McBride had 14 points and 5 rebounds.