PLAINVIEW -- If you're the University of North Texas at Dallas, it was hardly the way you would want to get ready for the start of the Sooner Athletic Conference post-season tournament.  The final regular season match-up with Wayland Baptist University in the Hutchinson Center on Saturday (Feb. 19), saw both Trailblazers teams suffer through Homecoming horror stories.
     First, the host Flying Queens made their visiting alumni happy by clinching the SAC title with a 107-45 victory over the UNTD women; then, the men Pioneers breezed past the Trailblazers, 68-42. 
     The drop in the final league standing made a Tuesday (Feb. 22) road trip the next item on the Dallas university's agenda. Coach Rodney Belcher's 10^th seeded women (6-16 in SAC play, 12-17 for the season) will visit No. 7 Oklahoma City University (10-12, 15-12) for a 6 p.m. game.  Josh Howard's No. 10 men (8-14, 12-17) will play at No. 7 Mid-America Christian at 7 p.m.
     And, based on Saturday's performances, both will be decided underdogs.
     The women fell behinds early and were never a threat to Wayland Baptist which scored over 100 for the second game in a row. UNTD managed only 20 points in the first two quarters Saturday. And things only got worse. In the final period, the Queens outscored the visitors, 33-10.  For the game, five members of the host team scored in double figures, led by Kaylee Edgermon's 28. Delyssa Miller and Tamia Miller led the Trailblazers scoring with 10 points each.
     Things didn't get much better for the visitors in the men's contest. Down by 10 at halftime, the Trailblazers were outscored, 40-24, in the second. DeAndre Robinson paced UNTD with 11 points as the team connected on but 24.6 percent of its shots during the frustrating afternoon. Robinson was also the top rebounder with nine.
     Due to a number of early season cancellations due to COVID outbreaks, conference officials decided to allow all 12 teams into the post-season tournament. Traditionally, only the top eighjt qualified. Tuesday winners will advance to quarterfinal play on Thursday (Feb. 24).  Semifinals will be played on Feb. 28 with the championship game set for March 1.