SEC WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT

Day starts little early as wintry mix hits area

Attendance was sparse at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock during the opening day of the SEC Women’s Tournament after central Arkansas was struck with icy weather Wednesday afternoon.
Attendance was sparse at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock during the opening day of the SEC Women’s Tournament after central Arkansas was struck with icy weather Wednesday afternoon.

It wasn't the kind of start officials had hoped for going into the SEC Women's Tournament.

Inclement weather in central Arkansas on Wednesday forced organizers to move up the start of the five-day women's basketball tournament two hours, and created a headache for Vanderbilt's players and coaches when their arrival was delayed after the team's bus was caught in rush-hour traffic while trying to get to Verizon Arena.

The Commodores were scheduled to play Alabama in the second game Wednesday evening, but the earlier start time led to the team getting stuck for an hour and five minutes in traffic on Interstates 630 and 30, Vanderbilt video coordinator George MacLellan said.

MacLellan said the Commodores were upbeat on their way to the arena despite the weather delay, and players watched a highlight video of the team's season to help pass the time while they were stuck on the team bus.

Vanderbilt, the 11th seed in the tournament, held a shoot-around at 10:30 a.m. at Central Arkansas Christian and had a pregame meal at 2 p.m. before leaving for North Little Rock, MacLellan said. The team arrived at Verizon Arena at approximately 5:30 p.m., about an hour before tipoff against No. 14 seed Alabama.

Florida, the No. 12 seed, originally was scheduled to open the tournament against No. 13 seed Auburn at 6 p.m., but officials decided early Wednesday morning to move the start up to 4 p.m. after wintry weather moved into the area with worse conditions expected as the day progressed.

Auburn defeated Florida 71-49 and will face No. 5 seed Texas A&M this afternoon. Vanderbilt and Alabama played later Wednesday, with the winner advancing to meet No. 6 seed Kentucky tonight.

SEC and arena officials will meet this morning to determine any possible changes to today's second-round schedule, which features four games. An SEC official told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that conference, arena and North Little Rock city officials will meet at 7 a.m..

Arkansas is scheduled to play Ole Miss at noon in today's first game, with the Auburn-A&M game following. Georgia will play Missouri at 6 p.m., with Kentucky wrapping up the evening session against the Vanderbilt-Alabama winner.

Michael Marion, general manager of Verizon Arena, said officials expressed concerns early Wednesday about how the weather would affect those attending the tournament.

"They had concerns about the patrons' as well as the players' safety, getting safely to and from the hotels," Marion said.

The SEC said it will honor unused tickets for Wednesday's games for general admission seating for any remaining session of the tournament.

Marion said Wednesday evening that it was too early to know whether today's schedule will be affected.

"We know a lot of people are in town," Marion said. "[Today] is the Razorback game. There's a lot of people who are wanting to come in for that game."

Nathan Hamilton, spokesman for North Little Rock Mayor Joe Smith, said it was the mayor's understanding that games would not be cancelled because of the conference's television schedule.

"We expect to have crews working and taking care of our streets to make sure they are [as] safe as possible," Hamilton said.

Hamilton added that restaurants and other businesses near the North Little Rock arena expect to be open regardless of the weather.

Alan Sims of the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau said that every team has made it to either Little Rock and North Little Rock.

South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi State and LSU -- the top four seeds in the SEC Tournament -- play Friday after receiving double-byes.

Sports on 03/05/2015

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