The Selma Times-Journal

BROKEN ARROW, Okla. – The Concordia women’s basketball team will soon find out how hard it is to repeat.

The Hornets will try to follow up on the first national championship in school history when they play their first game of the USCAA national tournament Thursday.

“We’re relaxed but motivated,” Concordia coach Ernest Foster said. “We understand the target is on our back. We understand everyone wants to play the champion.”

Concordia (13-10) enters the tournament as the No. 4 seed and has a bye in the first round. The team isn’t taking for granted it will have an easier road back to the championship, however.

The Hornets have persevered through a season in which they only had seven scheduled home games and had to win three of their last four games to finish the season above .500.

In those games, they were without Jazzlyn Prince, who left the team for personal reasons. Prince was the tournament MVP last year.

Foster said one of the most encouraging things he saw all season was the way the team pulled together, especially in road wins over Allen University and Voorhees College.

“Her leadership is going to be missed, but the kids have responded well to it,” Foster said. “The kids have answered the challenge to step up and play hard. Santana Seay has stepped up big for us. She’s leading the entire USCAA in scoring.”

Seay’s 23.4 points per game should all but guarantee her second consecutive selection as a USCAA first-team All American.

Since that honor is squared away, she and the team can concentrate on what’s really important.

“We’re excited to be here,” Seay said. “The freshmen are excited to be here. We came down here to win the championship, and that’s all we came for.”