Montgomery, AL -- The Piedmont College men's and women's basketball teams will be two of eight teams competing this weekend in the final four of the 2011 Great South Athletic Conference Basketball Championship Tournaments.  With the weekend tourney action set to take place in Huntingdon's Roland Arena, both the Lady Lions and Lions have semifinal match-ups later today as the women's basketball team will tip-off at 6:30 while the men's basketball team will follow with their semifinal battle at 8:30. 

Head Coach Jamie Purdy will lead her Lady Lions against one of only two teams in the GSAC to have defeated PC during the regular season in the Panthers of LaGrange College.  LC boasts the nation's top scoring offense and the 2010-11 GSAC Player of the Year as the Panthers claimed the second seed and a first round tourney bye to set up this semifinal date with Piedmont.

The Lady Lions will be looking to their pair of All-Conference selections and a host of talent to knock off the GSAC regular season runner-up as Laura Simmons and Sada Wheeler will work down low to help control the paint.  The defensive presence of Wheeler (72 blocks on the season) and offensive prowess of Simmons (50% shooting on the year) has been a lethal combination for Piedmont all season long.

Possessing one the league's top frontcourts, the key to Lady Lion success may be the play of their backcourt as guards Alyssa Jones and Shanice Wheeler will bring their assists and steals to tonight's showdown in Roland.  As the team's floor general at the point, Jones led the squad with her 106 helpers on the season as the the only Lady Lion to reach triple digit numbers in assists.

The inspired play of Shanice could be just the spark Piedmont needs as her team-leading 59 steals in 2010-11 led to many scoring chances off turnovers for the third seeded Lady Lions.  Filling the role of the deep threat will be shooter Amber Satterfield who brings her 55 tri-fectas with her to Montgomery in hopes of sending PC to the tile game.

The Piedmont men's basketball team also has championship dreams dancing their heads this final four weekend as the squad will bring all sorts of accolades with them to Roland Arena.  Having been named 2010-11 GSAC Coach of the Year, Head Coach Lee Glenn will bring his GSAC Freshman of the Year point guard Will Skaggs to the semifinal match-up with the hosting Hawks of Huntingdon College later tonight.

Skaggs dished out almost 150 helpers in his first collegiate season with the Lions averaging just under six assists per game.  The youngster will have plenty of help around him as a pair of All-Conference selections will appear in the Lion backcourt and frontcourt in shooter Josh Haymore and big man Tracey Gardner.

Haymore is ranked third in the nation in terms of three-point field goal percentage having connected on close to 50% of his tries from downtown on the season.  Gardner was the Lions' utiltiy man and top rebounder on the year having posting team-high rebounding numbers for the squad in 19 of the squad's 25 games this season.

Also bringing experience to the table will be senior Daniel Lampl who is looking to cap his Piedmont career with a four-year dream of becoming a conference champion.  Lampl overcame early injuries in his final season for the green and gold to help lead the Lions to a runner-up finish in the GSAC regular season.  Fans can hear Lampl discuss tonight's semifinal match-up by listening to his recent interview on Monday Mane Event.

For full championship information of both the men's and women's tournaments including brackets, game times, ticket and travel information, please visit the official GSAC championship websites listed below.

2011 Men's Basketball Tournament Championship Central

2011 Women's Basketball Tournament Championship Central