American Mideast Conference playoff basketball will be played tonight in St. Vincent College's Carey Center, but not by Bearcats teams.
Kristen Zawacki's St. Vincent women, the fourth-seeded team in the North Division, will play at Shawnee State (Ohio) tonight in a 7:30 first-round game of the NAIA qualifying tournament.
The home teams at St. Vincent will be the Seton Hill women and men. The women, seeded second in the AMC north, play host to Malone (Ohio), the third seed from the South, in a 6 p.m. game. The Seton Hill men, seeded first in the North, also play Malone, the South's fourth seed, at 8.
"Going to St. Vincent is no big deal," said Seton Hill men's coach Tony Morocco, whose team was scheduled to practice there Monday night. "We're used to being all over the place. We'll be comfortable there."
Seton Hill plays home games at Jeannette High School and in the Sullivan Hall facility on campus, awaiting the opening of a brand new gymnasium.
The Griffins teams were fortunate that the St. Vincent women are on the road and the Bearcats men's team does not play until Saturday, when it hosts Walsh (Ohio) in the AMC championship. St. Vincent and Walsh, by virtue of winning division titles, have already secured berths in the NAIA national tournament. The winner of the men's and women's qualifying tournaments, played by the second, third, fourth and fifth teams in each division, also earn a spot in the NAIA national events.
Seton Hill women's coach Scott Breegle found the prospect of hosting a game on a rival's floor amusing.
"It's a little crazy," he said. "We've played there this year and so has Malone, so there's really no homecourt advantage. We just don't have to travel very far."
Zawacki wished she could have stayed home. But, by virtue of an 11-7 conference record, 11-18 overall, her team didn't qualify for the postseason until the final game of the season.
"We're excited to continue the streak of 22 consecutive years in the playoffs," Zawacki said. "And we're looking forward to moving on, getting rid of this season and maybe looking forward to another season.
"We know we've got to step up the program. We've taken a year, maybe two years off and we haven't gotten to the title game. That just doesn't feel right to me and we want to get back there."
Shawnee State brings a 21-10 record to the game and has three scorers averaging in double figures, led by Cassie Hannah at 17.5 points a game.
St. Vincent's top scorers are Kristin Myers and Sarah Rockwell, each averaging 14.1 points.
The Seton Hill women (20-10, 13-5) are led by Elena Radenkovik's 17.9-point scoring average. Denisha Salter and Kaleeda Jenkins average 10.5 and 10 points, respectively
Malone (17-12, 10-8) lost in the regular season to Seton Hill, 73-70, on Dec. 20.
"It should be very, very close again," Breegle said. "They match up well with us.
"We're just very excited about playing. It's a three-game season now. Win three games and you go to nationals."
Morocco and the Seton Hill men (18-7, 10-4) are thinking along similar lines mathematically in anticipation of playing Malone (18-13, 9-9).
"We're pretty focused," Morocco said. "Our guys are excited about playing this game."
But Morocco is wary.
"I'm told Malone is very physical and I have a lot of respect for them," he said. "They beat Cedarville (84-74 Saturday) and that gets your attention. But, like I tell our players, if you deserve it, you go. Its in your hands. All you can ask for is a chance to bat and we have that."
