FRANKFORT, Ky. – It's a rematch of last season's semifinal as the fourth-seeded University of Pikeville women's basketball team prepares to face top-seeded Shawnee State in the 2017 Mid-South Conference Tournament at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday.

Last year Shawnee State topped the Bears 88-69 in the semifinal round behind eight 3s from Ashton Lovely. UPIKE went on to advance to its first NAIA Fab Four, but UPIKE won't be looking to repeat exact history as its hungry to get past the Bears from Portsmouth, Ohio.

Part of that is from feeling let down by a 75-69 loss at Shawnee State in late January, the other motivator is the chance to play in its first MSC Tournament Championship Game in program history. Saturday's winner advances to that title game at 2 p.m. on Sunday in the Frankfort Convention Center.

Saturday's tilt can be watched live online, on iOS and on Roku at Backlight TV, while the UPIKE Athletics YouTube page will have a live radio call.

UPIKE is now 6-15 all time at the MSC Tournament after topping Georgetown by 14 on Thursday, but is 0-2 against SSU. Shawnee made its way to the semis by beating Life (Ga.) 118-42 in the quarterfinals.

Shawnee State is leading the nation in scoring at 89.3 points per game while allowing 66.1, leading to the nation's 5th-largest winning margin at 23.2 points. SSU is shooting 48.7 percent from the field, which is 2nd nationally, and 39.6 percent from behind the arc, ranking second.

Bailey Cummins ranks first in the NAIA in 3-point percentage at 48.0 and Jonessa Moore is ninth in scoring at 18.6 points per game.

This is the 40th meeting in the all-time series between UPIKE and Shawnee State. SSU leads 35-4, including a 19-0 record at home and 13-4 lead when it comes to Pikeville. On a neutral court, SSU leads 3-0. UPIKE's last win in the series came on Feb. 5, 2011, 70-67, in the East Ky. Expo Center. Most recently, Shawnee State has won 14 straight in the series.

-UPIKE-