ROCK HILL, S.C. - After being picked eighth in the 2012-13 SAC women's basketball preseason poll, Anderson secured the outright conference title on Saturday and will be the top seed in next week's Food Lion SAC Women's Basketball Championship.
The Trojans' SAC title is the program's first since joining the league in the 2010-11 season. AU finished eighth in the conference standings in both of its first two years.
Despite falling in its regular-season finale at Mars Hill on Saturday, Anderson finished one game ahead of No. 2 seed Lenoir-Rhyne in the SAC standings at 14-4. AU is 20-8 overall.
Anderson will host No. 8 seed Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday in the SAC Championship quarterfinal round at 6 p.m.
Lenoir-Rhyne entered Saturday with an opportunity to earn a share of the SAC title, but fell at Newberry 64-59. The Bears - 18-8 overall and 13-5 in the SAC - will play No. 7 seed Wingate in Wednesday's quarterfinals.
Catawba secured the SAC Championship's No. 3 seed on Saturday by defeating LMU, 60-56. The Indians, who reached the title game of last season's tournament, will face No. 6 seed Tusculum in the quarterfinals.
Newberry is the bracket's No. 4 seed and will take on fifth-seeded Carson-Newman in the quarterfinal round.
Wingate and LMU tied for seventh in the SAC standings at 7-11 in the league, but WU won a tiebreaker for the higher seed in the tournament by virtue of its 1-1 record against Catawba, while LMU was 0-2. Wingate and LMU split head-to-head this season, and both were 0-2 versus Anderson and Lenoir-Rhyne.
Following Wednesday's campus-site quarterfinals, the SAC Championship semifinal and final rounds will be played at Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C. on March 9 and 10.
Quarterfinals - March 6
No. 8 Lincoln Memorial at No. 1 Anderson, 6 p.m.
No. 7 Wingate at No. 2 Lenoir-Rhyne, 7 p.m.
No. 6 Tusculum at No. 3 Catawba, 7 p.m.
No. 5 Carson-Newman at No. 4 Newberry, 7 p.m.
Semifinals - March 9
Semifinal 1, noon
Semifinal 2, 2:30 p.m.
Finals - March 10
Championship game, 1:30 p.m.
