When the 2012 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Basketball Tournament starts on Tuesday, February 28^th in the Forbes Arena at Morehouse College, both teams from Fort Valley State University (FVSU) will be a part of the field of 13 schools in search of the conference tournament championship.  The regular season SIAC champion Lady Wildcats will contend for back-to-back tournament titles, while the Wildcats will compete for their first title since 1998.
 
Lady Wildcats
 
After finishing the regular season with a 20-4 overall record and an 18-4 conference mark, the Lady Wildcats enter the tournament as the number one seed.  With the best record in the conference, the Lady Wildcats earned a first round bye and will begin conference play on Wednesday, February 29^th at 6 p.m. against the winner of Tuesday's match-up between the eighth seed LeMoyne-Owen College and ninth seed Kentucky State University.
 
The Lady Wildcats are the defending SIAC champions and for the 21^st time since Head Coach Lonnie Bartley took over leadership of the program 28 years ago, the Lady Wildcats have won 20 or more games in the regular season. Led by seniors Yasheeka Jones and Jasmine Birdsong, FVSU will be vying for the school's 11^th SIAC Championship. Jones is averaging 11 points per game and two rebounds. She leads in the team in assists with a total of 75 and in steals with 76.  Birdsong averages 10.9 points per game and leads the team in rebounding with a total of 198 or 8.9 per game.
 
Currently ranked fifth in the South Region of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the Lady Wildcats lead the SIAC in scoring average per game (70.4 points per game) and in steals with 18 per game.  They enter tournament play with a seven-game win streak.
 
Wildcats
 
The Wildcats finished the regular season with a 12-14 overall record and 12-12 in conference play.  Under first year head coach Sammy Jackson, FVSU enters the tournament ranked eighth in the conference and will begin play on Tuesday, February 28^th at 8 p.m. against the ninth ranked Bears of Miles College.  During the course of the regular season, the teams met twice with Miles winning the first game (83-73) and the Wildcats winning the most recent (73-69).  Sophomore Desmond Lofland led the Wildcats in the win with 15 points.
 
During the season the Wildcats averaged 70 points per game and averaged 38.7 rebounds per contest.  The Wildcats were led in scoring this season by sophomore Brandon Davey who averaged 11.8 points per game. He also averaged 7.3 rebounds per outing. Lofland, forward Corey Hunter and center Cecil Bent averaged nine points per game for the Wildcats.
 
A win by the Wildcats in the opening round would pit them against the number one seed Golden Tigers of Tuskegee University in second round action on Wednesday, February 29^th. 
 
Tickets for the SIAC Tournament are as follows: Week passes are $50; Individual day tickets are $10 (Tuesday through Thursday); Semifinal and Championship tickets are $15 each.
 
All Lady Wildcat and Wildcat games during the tournament can be heard live on the Wildcats Sports Network on WFVS-LP 104.3 FM in Fort Valley, GA or on the worldwide web at www.fvsu.edu.  
 
 
To make a contribution to Wildcats Athletics, go to www.fvsusports.com and click on the donate icon on the left.