MARSHALL, Texas – For the fifth straight season, the East Texas Baptist University women's basketball team will be headed to the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament. They will be the #2 seed but will be the hosts due to both the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's and women's team winning the regular season. Since they cannot host both, it is the rotating year that the tournament goes to the women's #2 seed in that situation.
 
ETBU finished the year at 19-4 and 15-3 in the ASC upsetting #14 UMHB in Belton, Texas. Coming into the week, ETBU was ranked #3 in the NCAA Regional Poll behind #1 UMHB and #2 Whitman. ETBU has played in two ASC championship games over the past four years winning it in 2017-18. It is the best run for the program in their NCAA Division III era for the ASC Tournament going 7-3 during the past four years.
 
Last year during the COVID post-season, the ASC higher seeds hosted the first round games and the final four teams played at the West host who was Sul Ross State. ETBU opened up with a 76-48 win over Belhaven in Marshall on March 10. They then defeated Sul Ross State, 72-56, in the semi-finals before falling to UMHB, 75-72, in the championship. ETBU finished the season at 25-1 with a perfect 23-0 regular season.
 
ETBU won the ASC Tournament in the 2017-18 season under former head coach Rusty Rainbolt. Playing in Richardson, Texas, ETBU won their first game, 50-36, over Howard Payne. They then held off Texas Dallas, 66-61, before winning 71-70 over UMHB for the championship. They went on to finish in the Elite 8 and posted a 25-7 record finishing at #11 in the nation.
 
The ASC Tournament will start on Thursday with ETBU hosting #7 seed Concordia Texas at 7:30 p.m.