TULSA, Okla. (March 2, 2016) – Oklahoma Christian will be venturing somewhat into the unknown as postseason play begins.

The Lady Eagles, in their first season of NCAA Division II eligibility, will make their debut in the Heartland Conference Championship on Thursday, when the fourth-seeded Lady Eagles will face fifth-seeded St. Mary's (Texas) in a quarterfinal game at the Union Multipurpose Activity Center.

It's been awhile since OC has played in a women's basketball conference tournament – five years, to be exact, back when the Lady Eagles competed in the NAIA and Sooner Athletic Conference. OC coach Stephanie Findley is no stranger to the postseason, having coached for 31 years, and most of her players played in postseason events in high school, but she knows the Heartland tournament will have a different feel than the SAC or prep events.

"It is new and it's different for me, in that it's not the old Oklahoma Baptist, Southern Nazarene, Oklahoma City rivalries," Findley said, rattling off three longtime OC foes. "I still don't feel like we have any rivalries in the Heartland. It's kind of a strange situation going into it. It's like, 'OK, we've got another game now.' One at a time, yes, but not against a rival."

If there's one team OC (14-14) has been evenly matched against during its four seasons in the Heartland, it's St. Mary's (17-9). The Lady Eagles and Rattlers have split games in each of those four seasons, with each winning on its home court until this season, when St. Mary's shot 60 percent from the field to win 96-85 in Oklahoma City on Jan. 2, only to have OC respond by prevailing 75-63 in overtime in San Antonio on Jan. 28.

The latter was the Lady Eagles' most impressive road win of the season, especially considering St. Mary's was ranked in the South Central Region top 10 at the time.

The two teams were among four squads battling for second place in the conference behind top-seeded, No. 1-ranked Lubbock Christian (Texas) and ended up being the two that fell into LCU's side of the bracket. Findley knows that like any game between 4-5 seeds, OC's matchup with St. Mary's could correctly be labeled as a tossup.

"We were right there fighting for second place," Findley said. "We're proud of that fact, that we were able to take our 2-7 start (to the season) and turn it into an 11-7 finish (in the conference race). We still don't feel like we've performed like we could have. There is a lot of parity and the tournament could turn out just about any way you want. Obviously, Lubbock is the heavy favorite, but there could be upsets."

OC has the conference's No. 3 and No. 4 scorers in junior forwards Sarah Parker (16.0 points per game) and McKenzie Stanford (15.1 ppg), and a late-season surge by freshman Addy Clift has increased her scoring average to 11.5 points per game.

St. Mary's has four players who average double figures in scoring – Kiara Etheridge (14.1), Dezirae Elias (12.5), LaBraile Fields (10.9) and Arysia Porter (10.7).  Elias, Fields and Porter all are significant threats from 3-point range, while Etheridge shoots a healthy 42.8 percent from the field.

"Even though we got the four seed, you realistically look at them as having the tournament experience, which might give them the edge," Findley said. "They've been there and they've been to regionals at this level."

The Lady Eagles usually fare well if they can get to the free-throw line, as they rank 10th in Division II this season in free-throw percentage (77.2) and second in made free throws with 488. OC also ranks second in the Heartland in opponent turnovers at 20.2 per game, something Findley emphasizes to give her team extra possessions and take advantage of her team's depth.

OC enters the tournament coming off two strong performances in blowouts over St. Edward's (Texas) and Texas-Permian Basin, which the Lady Eagles won by 27 and 57 points, respectively.  OC shot 54.7 percent against St. Edward's and 48.1 percent against UTPB.

"We've gotten on a streak here where we're shooting well, like I know we can shoot," Findley said. "We've got to keep that rolling. You hear it all the time, but when you're making shots, your defense is a lot better, because you put more energy into it. Everything is better.

"If we can shoot like we did last week, we can hang in with a lot of people."

The tournament will be played in Union High School's facility, which previously has hosted NCAA Division I conference tournaments. Outside of Rogers State, which isn't eligible for the event this season, OC is the closest Heartland school to Tulsa, only about 100 miles away. Findley thinks that could give her team an ever-so-slight edge.

"After traveling so much during the year, I think it's nice to not have to go and ride a bus forever," Findley said. "It's still not great having to stay in a hotel, when you could be sleeping in your own bed, but hopefully we'll have some fans who make it up there. Maybe some Tulsa-area alumni will come."

The tournament winner will earn an automatic berth into the eight-team South Central Region tournament, which is the first stage of the NCAA Division II tournament.