The Dolphins shot at a conference title and NCAA Tournament berth starts Thursday as the No. 6 JU women’s basketball team plays No. 3 Campbell in the first round of the General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Championship at the University Center in Macon, Ga. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m.

JU (9-19, 8-12) plays in its fifth straight A-Sun Tournament under head coach Jill Dunn, including reaching the championship final the last two seasons.

“We are excited about the tournament,” said JU head coach Jill Dunn. “Our mindset is that it is a whole new season and anything can happen in March. We want to make the most of this opportunity and come out on Thursday with a lot of intensity. We know we have to compete for 40 minutes to get a win.”

The Dolphins and Camels (14-15, 9-11) meet for the second time in less than a week.

On Feb. 25th, the Dolphins forced a series split after securing a 63-57 victory at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena. Campbell broke a six-game losing streak against JU in the first meeting by earning a 74-63 victory on Dec. 19 in Buies Creek, N.C.

Overall, each team enters the week on two different paths. The Dolphins finished the year 4-6 in their final 10 games, but had bright spots.

JU swept Belmont (Feb. 6) and Lipscomb (Feb.8) in Nashville for the first time in program history, while freshman guard Drameka Griggs matured during the final stretch of the season.

Griggs, an all-freshman selection, finished the final 10 games with a team-best 13.3 points per game, while recording team highs in assists (29) and steals (22). Senior forward Desarae Johnson is also in the mix by recording 18 blocks in the final six games to put her two shy of tying Ashley Williams (128) for the all-time record.

Campbell on the other hand has hit a small downward spiral - losing six of its final seven games to end the season. The Camels were held to just five points in the final five minutes against the Dolphins before taking a hard 74-48 loss to UNF a day later.

Despite the losing streak, the Camels own an 11-9 advantage over the Dolphins in the all-time series. Thursday’s game will be the first time these two teams meet in the A-Sun Tournament.

Fans can watch the live video streaming on A-Sun.TV or listen to Barry Milligan calling the action on 1010XL.com by logging onto JUDolphins.com.