Well, it looks like ACU will have to win this tournament to make the regionals -- which is absolutely ridiculous.

For the third straight week the Wildcat women have waited for the Wednesday release of the South Central Region poll, thinking each time that, finally, this will be the week they’ll see Abilene Christian listed.

And, for the third straight week, the Wildcats were jilted in the poll that will, at season’s end, determine the eight teams that will advance to the Division II regional playoffs.

The hottest team in the conference, ACU has beaten multiple regionally ranked teams this season, including No. 1 West Texas A&M. In the rematch with the Lady Buffs, ACU fell by just two on the road. It was the only loss ACU suffered the entire month of February. None of that, however, has swayed the voters.

The Lady Buffs still sit atop the poll, while Angelo State -- despite being upset in the last week of the season by a Texas A&M-Kingsville team that finished the season 7-20 overall and 3-11 in South Division Play -- is still No. 8. Northeastern State is No. 9 and Texas A&M-Commerce is No. 10. ACU split the season series with Angelo State, beat Northeastern in the lone matchup and fell in overtime at Commerce, the team ACU will face today in the first round of the conference tournament.

In-game updates coming soon.

(Oh, and the PA guy? I'm pretty sure it's either Reverend Lovejoy or Principal Skinner. Kudos to the LSC and Bartlesville for footing the bill to get him here from Springfield. That's good stuff.)

ACU vs. Texas A&M-Commerce

Audrey Maxwell is going to have a huge afternoon if this keeps up. She hits her first three shots and ACU is up 6-0 one minute in, forcing a Commerce timeout.

Commerce is finally playing a little bit better, but ACU is shooting lights-out right now. Maxwell just converted on an and-one with 11:46 to play, making it a 29-19 ACU lead. The Cats are shooting an incredible 80 percent from the field, missing just three of 15 shots. That can't hold the entire way, of course, but through almost 10 minutes it's been pretty impressive.

Commerce has finally settled in ... the Lady Lions were down by 14 after an Alex Guiton trey, but they scored seven straight to cut that lead in half.

It's an 11-point lead for ACU at the break, 49-38. ACU’s early attack down low has opened up the perimeter and the Wildcats are taking advantage of their open looks, sinking 60 percent of their shots in the first 20 minutes of play -- including a 75 percent effort from 3-point range. For their part, Commerce is hitting at 47.1 percent overall and 60 percent from deep. But the Wildcats have something to prove this week and, to this point, they're playing like it.

Britney Jordan is doing her best to win this one for the Lady Lions. She's got 23, and Commerce just took its first lead of the game, 55-54, with 11 minutes to play.

ACU, though, just strung together an 11-0 run to again take command.

With 3:51 to play, Jordan is going to the line trying to convert on an and-one that will make it a three-point game, 71-68, ACU. The Cats have to be worried that she's about to take over, as she is fully able to do.

She misses, but Commerce gets the rebound and putback, making it a two-point contest.

OK ... I've got a timeout here ... quick recap:

With 3:29 to play it was a two-point game, but Maxwell got a putback to make ACU’s lead four, 73-69, and an offensive foul on Commerce gave the ball back to the Wildcats. Maxwell cashed in on that opportunity, too, and the lead was six. Another two Commerce fouls led to two more trips to the free throw line and another two points for ACU. Then came a turnaround jumper for ACU and a charging call on Commerce, giving the ball back, once again, to ACU.

We're in a short delay here ... refs called a shot clock violation on ACU -- problem is that everyone else in the gym saw the ball hit the bottom of the back-iron with two seconds left before the buzzer. They are now trying to figure out how to work the VCR, I think, to watch the replay.

Tape's inconclusive, I guess, because they gave the ball to Commerce.

Hey, I'll admit it -- I was wrong on this one. Tarleton SID Joey Roberts was over there looking at the tape along with the officials, and he said it hit the underside of the backboard, just missing hitting iron. Sorry, LSC refs -- you definitely got this one right.

Either way, it didn't matter, though. ACU was going to win this game at that point, and it was just the final score that was in doubt.

Commerce coach Denny Downing was very gracious in his postgame comments, and called ACU maybe the hottest team in the nation right now, and he's right.

Also, it should be noted, Downing continued a string of complimentary comments from coaches and players about the way this tournament has been hosted. Every coach thus far has raved about Bartlesville, both about the tournament itself, the community and the product as a whole. He said even though Commerce hosted last year, this was an entirely different experience and atmosphere. He's excited about where this will go in the future, and I would echo his sentiments.

Bartlesville has done an outstanding job of putting on a professional show. They've taken care of the media, the staff and the teams, they're getting stuff on the Web in the form of photos, video and stats, and they are giving these players a true championship tournament experience.

Note: Senior center Katrina Mosley became Commerce’s all-time leading scorer with 14 points, just passing former Lion standout Meshell Graham (1984-88), who had 1,600 points. Expect that record to last about a year, though ... Jordan will soon own that mark.

ACU vs. Texas A&M-Commerce

OK, so I've had a bit of a blog failure here, but we're back up and going.

Playing catch-up through the bulk of the first half, Tarleton State trailed by three to start the second half. The TexAnns tied the game up at 42 three-and-a-half minutes in and again at 51 at the 13-minute mark.

Tarleton finally took a one-point lead when D’Anna Dingler nailed a wide-open trey and with 8:30 to play made it a three-point game when Jamie Ansley found a window under the basket and snuck around the defense for a point-blank shot to make it 60-57.

This game has been great from the outset. The teams have played a really physical, possession game, and right now Tarleton is clinging to a two-point lead with four minutes left.

With 21 seconds to go Karlie Free nailed a short jumper and Tarleton’s Krystal Cole tried to force up a shot that didn’t fall. UCO got to the ball and, with 7.5 seconds to go, TSU put Free on the line to shoot two. She nailed the first, making it a three-point game, and hit the second as well, ending Tarleton’s season.