Jonathon Barbaree has guided Anderson to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last four seasons. If the Trojans are to make it for a fifth consecutive year, they will have to win the 2021 Flying Pilot J South Atlantic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament. Barbaree's bunch got off to a good start by building a 14-point fourth quarter lead against No. 12 seed Mars Hill before holding off a Lions' comeback bid to claim a 64-56 win in the opening round. Sophomore Jalyn Spurlin scored a team-high 17 points off the bench in the win as Anderson won the battle of the boards 59-to-37. The Trojans are one of the league's biggest teams, having six players on the team that stand 6-foot or taller, including 6-foot-1 senior Samantha Michel who scored 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in Anderson's 79-66 home win over UVA Wise. The Trojans lead the nation in blocked shots per game (7.1) and have grabbed more rebounds (1,004) than any other NCAA Division II team this season.

UVA Wise enters Monday's quarterfinal tournament game with Anderson looking to keep its hopes alive of a conference tournament crown while bolstering its resume for an at large berth in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. On Saturday, Jamie Cluesman's crew used a career-high 30 points and career-best 17 rebounds from Kalee Johnson to move by Queens University 85-63. It marked the second consecutive game that the forward had scored at least 28 points. Teammate Caitlyn Ross continued her strong play also, the guard scored 20 points and dished out six assists. As a team, the Cavaliers assisted on 18 of 30 made baskets to stay the league leader in assists per game at 18.7. Rebounding will likely be key in Monday's game with Anderson. The Trojans won the battle of the boards 52-to-31 the first time the two schools met. In that game, the Cavs suffered through one of its worst shooting days of the season, connecting on 23-of-71 field goal attempts. The poor shooting included a 3-for-18 showing from beyond the arc. On the season, UVA Wise is making 44.8 percent of its field goal attempts while hitting on 35 percent of its 3-point field goal attempts. Saturday, Hanna Oliver joined an exclusive club. The senior made a pair of triples to become the second player in program history to make 200 career 3-pointers. Monday, Johnson could make history as she enters the game with 985 career points. With 15 points, she would become the 22nd player in program history to join the 1,000 point club. A win would allow UVA Wise to play in the conference tournament semifinals for the first time since 2017 when the team was a member of the Mountain East Conference.