An entirely new season starts tonight for the Clark Atlanta University Lady Panthers when they take on Central State at 7 p.m. CST in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament at the Birmingham CrossPlex' Bill Harris Arena in Birmingham, Ala.

"Everybody is 0-0," said Lady Panthers Head Coach Yolanda Moore.  "This is where the magic happens. It's a different motivation; it's a different energy, and different excitement, so I'm ready."

The Lady Panthers are the third seed from the SIAC East Division while Central State is the sixth seed from the West Division.

The last time the Lady Panthers were on the Arena's floor they were cutting down the nets after defeating Central State to win the 2018 SIAC Tournament Championship and earning an NCAA Tournament bid. 

This season, the Lady Panthers, who returned just two players from last year's team, finished the regular season 7-19, 5-10 in conference play.  CAU started slow, including a December 88-57 loss at Central State, but had a four-game winning streak in February and had chances to win most of the games they were in.   

Now they are focused, game-by-game, on tournament success.

"We basically have a whole new team from top to bottom, except for two people," she said. "And you're asking kids who never played in championship situations to come in and play at that level. So, it's all new for them.  Last year's team was a veteran team as most of them had been on the team two or three years.  So, they had been to this. They'd experienced this.

"But none of the players, even our transfers, have even experienced going to a conference tournament," Moore said.  "We'll get down there early, have them get the butterflies out by having them go to the arena, see the size of it and take it all in.  But at the end of the day, it's just basketball. We're not playing anybody we haven't played all season.  Again, it's what's your perspective, what's your end game, what's your motivation about this because it's not like if we lose, we have another game. If we lose, that's it.  Are you ready to be done or are you ready to win."

The Lady Panthers are led by 2019 All-SIAC players Reyana Miller and Reagan Jackson.  Miller, who with senior I'Nayah Moore, return from last season's championship team.  Miller has been among the conference's leading scorers this year and has played a ton of minutes for the Lady Panthers.  Jackson is the SIAC's Freshman of the Year, leading CAU in scoring with 13.6 points per game, good for seventh best among all SIAC scorers.

Central State is the SIAC's second-best scoring team at 68 points per game and counters with junior Takyra Gilbert, who was just behind Jackson in conference scoring with 13.4 points per game and leads the SIAC in assists. Senior Jaeda Davis tied with Miller for 13^th best SIAC scorer, averaging 12.2 points per game.

A taller team than CAU, Central State is led on the boards by 6'1" Chervelle Cox and 5'9" Fallon Edwards. 

But the Lady Panthers, who instead of taking a day of last week asked Moore if they could practice, are undaunted and ready to defend their title.

"The difference [from tourney time last season to this season] is we didn't have the success in terms of wins and losses this year and we had to fight hard to get some wins in the conference," Moore said. "So, I think we may be overlooked by some opponents. But for our kids, that's extra motivation -- having that chip on our shoulder now for our team to prove we are ready, and we are still defending champs until this thing is over."

Moore is also asking for the team's "sixth man" - CAU fans - to make the trek to Birmingham to support the Lady Panthers as they did last season. 

"We're just two-and-a-half hours up the road, so having that support is really key," she said. "It gives us energy. I don't think fans know how important they are to teams, to players, to know we have somebody and know its not just eight or nine people on the bench. It's a whole community of people rooting for us. Our kids need that boost of energy. So its very important that our fans are there to support us."

Tonight's game will be streamed live by FloHoops at https://www.flohoops.com/live/10645-2019-siac-basketball-tournament/signup?utm_campaign=2019siacbasketball%20tourney&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=thesiac.com&utm_content=website&rtid=55036&coverage_id=6305465.