Bulldogs seeded 22nd at NJCAAs
PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast will head into the NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament as the No. 22 seed, and the Bulldogs are taking that as an opportunity to let 'er rip.
Gulf Coast will start the tournament Wednesday, March 27, with a game against No. 11 Three Rivers in Casper, Wyoming. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. CT.
"We're just excited to get the opportunity to be in the national tournament," Gulf Coast coach Hope Adams said. "I wasn't sure what seed we would come in as, but we're just ready to go in there and make a run. We know who we line up with now."
It's the first trip for the program since 1977, and the Bulldog will get an extra day to prepare. They play on the second day of the 24-team tournament, which runs through Monday, April 1.
Gulf Coast (23-4) earned the trip by winning the Region 23 championship, beating Southwest Mississippi 62-50 in Jackson on Friday. The Bulldogs were MACCC co-champs and three of their four losses this year came to teams ranked in the top-25.
The Bulldogs will have an extra day to get prepared for their first game. The tournament starts next Monday.
"It is a long trip, so I've been talking to coaches about trying to prepare for the first time going up," Adams said. "Everyone said we want to go in there and take every opportunity to get in there and shoot. I think that's going to be crucial."
The Bulldogs will be back on campus Monday night to start getting ready, and they'll leave on Friday. They'll have a little more than week to hit the reset button again.
"Once we got out of conference play, Coach Bartee and I told them we're in a new season," Adams said. "Now we're out of the regional, we're going into another new season. What an exciting opportunity to go and make a run in the national championship. I think our players are excited about it. There's no pressure coming in as the 22-seed, but what's so exciting is we can go out there and have fun."
For more information on MGCCC's 11 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.
