COLUMBIA, S.C. – After a two-year wait, the Benedict College Lady Tigers will get their chance to play in the NCAA Tournament, taking on Lee University on Friday in Jackson, Tenn.

After winning the 2020 SIAC Tournament, the Lady Tigers were poised to make a splash in the postseason. In the middle of their practice the day before their first tournament game, they got word that the NCAA Tournament was being cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"That was a tough one for the young ladies," said Benedict head coach James Rice. "All the work they put in to be snatched out away from them. I was feeling so much pain because I knew what they went through that entire season. For them to be able to get the opportunity to play now, and that same core is still here, they are excited.

"Right now, we've got a chance to redeem ourselves."

The SIAC did not play a conference schedule, nor did they have a conference tournament in 2021, and Benedict did not receive an at-large bid into last year's field, which was reduced to 48 teams.

Benedict, the sixth seed in the South Region, will take on the Lee University Flames from the Gulf South Conference, the third seed at 1 p.m. Eastern on Friday on the campus of Union University in Jackson, Tenn. The game will be live streamed here, with live stats here.

That missed opportunity from 2020 still fuels the Lady Tigers.

"It was actually very sad. At the end of practice, coach Rice brought us all in and explained to us they were cancelling due to Covid," said fifth-year senior Ay'Anna Bey, Benedict's all-time leader in scoring and rebounding. "There were a lot of tears. I think we cried the whole day."

Benedict received the SIAC's automatic bid to this year's championship tournament by winning the conference tournament last weekend in Rock Hill, S.C.

"It was definitely a relief, because out of all my years being here, I've never had the chance to play in the regionals," Bey said. "It's definitely going to be a new experience."

The Lady Tigers, 23-7, will take on Lee University, 24-7. Three of Lee's losses came from Union, which moved to No. 1 in the country in this week's WBCA coach's poll, while another loss was to Division I Liberty University. Lee went 2-1 against 24^th-ranked Valdosta State. Benedict split a home-and-home non-conference series against Valdosta State this season.

The Flames are led by point guard Haley Shurbert, a three-time first-team All-Gulf South Conference selection. She is averaging 16.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 2.4 steals per game. She ranks fifth in the GSC in scoring, first in assists per game and total assists, fifth in assist to turnover ratio at 1.5 and 12th in field goal percentage (.412).

As a team, Lee averages nearly seven 3-pointers per game. Guard Halle Hughes averages 11.2 points per game and has made 43 3-pointers. Six-foot forward Hannah Garrett leads the team with 44 3-pointers. Six-foot forward Camryn Grant leads the team in rebounding at 6.1 per game.

"Lee is a good team. They're very well coached," Rice said. "They're a good passing team. They can pass the ball around the perimeter. They can shoot. They've got a good low post player and they play together. We'll see what we can do. It's a good matchup for us."

The winner of Friday's game advances to Saturday's 6 p.m. semifinal against the winner between second-seed Tampa (29-5) and seventh-seed Valdosta State (23-5). The region championship game is 8 p.m. Monday, with the winner advancing to the NCAA D2 Elite Eight Tournament in Birmingham, Ala.