HAMMOND, La. – A familiar opponent and scenario await the Southeastern Louisiana Lady Lions as they open the Southland Conference Tournament against Houston Baptist Wednesday night at the Jack Dugan Soccer Stadium in Corpus Christi, Texas.
  
    Reigning tournament champion Southeastern (7-10-2, 4-6-1 Southland), the fifth seed, will take on the fourth-seeded Huskies (7-10-1, 5-5-1) at 7 p.m. The winner meets top-seeded Central Arkansas (15-3-1, 10-0-1) in the semifinals Friday at 7 p.m.
  
    "We're excited to be back in the tournament and ready to go down there and see what we can do," Southeastern interim head coach Matt Muia said. "We know it's a win-or-go-home situation so we have to show up ready to go the first day and try to get a win and keep moving on."
  
    Southeastern was a fourth seed in 2015 when it made a run to its fourth Southland Tournament title, defeating No. 5 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, No. 1 Stephen F. Austin and No. 3 Sam Houston State along the way. The Lady Lions also won the 2013 tournament as a third seed and were the second seeds in their 1998 and 2009 titles. This will be the league-best 19^th tournament appearance for Southeastern which is 18-13-6 overall in tournament play.
  
    "It's going to help a lot going into Wednesday," Muia said of the experience many of his players have in the postseason. "And getting the younger kids this experience is also very useful. Hopefully, we can use this experience to our advantage and try to string a couple of wins together in this tournament."
  
    Third-seeded Northwestern State (10-7-1, 7-3-1) meets No. 6 McNeese (8-9-1, 4-6-1) in the opening game of the tournament Wednesday at 4 p.m. That winner advances to the semifinals Friday at 4 p.m. against No. 2 Stephen F. Austin (12-4-0, 9-2-0). The semifinal winners will meet for the championship Sunday at 1:05 p.m. with the winner garnering an automatic NCAA bid. The first round of the Women's Cup is scheduled for the weekend of Nov. 11-13.
  
    The first two rounds of the conference tournament will be streamed live for free on the Southland Digital Network, including Southland.org/watch. The championship match will be carried on ESPN3 via WatchESPN.com. Live stats are available at sidearmstats.com/southland/wsoc/.
  
    Tickets are available through the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi ticket office. An All-Tournament pass is $25 for adults and $20 for ages 12 and under. Single-day passes are $10 for adults and $8 for ages 12 and under. An adult championship pass is $8 while passes for 12 and under is $6. Southland Conference students with an ID and children 5 and under get in free.
  
    Both Southeastern and Houston Baptist struggled a bit down the stretch. The Lady Lions broke a three-match losing streak with a 3-0 win at home over Nicholls on Friday. The Huskies won their final two, including a 4-1 win at A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday, after losing four straight.
  
    Senior Hope Sabadash earned Southland Goalkeeper of the Week honors for the second time this season after making four saves to record her fifth shutout of the season and 29^th of her career for Southeastern on Friday. Sophomore Christina Cutura, freshman Linda Karlsson and junior Maddie Kresevic scored while junior Lauren Babcock, freshman Amber Marinero and senior Casey Peacock had assists. Cutura received honorable mention Southland Defensive Player of the Week recognition for her performance.
  
    Sabadash leads the Southland and is seventh in the country with 117 saves and needs two more to move into the top five on the Southeastern all-time season list. She is also fourth in the league in shutouts, eighth in save percentage (.791) and 10^th in goals against average (1.59).
  
    Sophomore Sofia Olsson is tied for eighth in the conference with eight goals while Peacock is tied for 10^th with five assists. Olsson and Peacock, who also has four goals, are tied for the team lead with 13 points. Kresevic has three goals and seven points while Babcock ranks second on the team with four assists. Southeastern has scored 26 goals this season while allowing 31.
  
    Houston Baptist has also given up 31 goals while scoring 30. Sophomore forward Gabby Rodriguez and senior midfielder Allison Abendschein share the team lead and are tied for eighth in the conference with six goals apiece. Abendschein and sophomore forward Sabriah Spencer pace the team with four assists and are one-two in points with 16 and 14, respectively. Junior midfielder Ellee Hall has four goals while senior defender Kristi O'Brien has three. O'Brien earned Southland Defensive Player of the Week honors after scoring a pair of goals in the win over Corpus Christi.
  
    Sophomore Alanis Guevara and junior Katie Turner have both seen time in the net for Houston Baptist. Guevara is tied for fifth in the conference with three shutouts and ranks sixth in GAA (1.24), ninth in save percentage (.786) and 10^th in saves per game (4.40). Turner is sixth in saves per game (5.56) and tied for 10^th in saves (50) and shutouts (1).
  
    Houston Baptist will be going for its second title in three seasons. The Huskies captured the tournament in 2014 after opening with a 2-1 double-overtime win over Southeastern. Houston Baptist lost to Sam Houston in the semifinals in 2015.
  
    Houston Baptist leads the series with Southeastern 5-0-1 after taking a 2-1 win over the Lady Lions in Hammond during the regular season.
  
    "We kind of know who their players are and they kind of know who we are, so it should be a very good game between both teams," Muia said.