The Haskell Indian Nations University women’s basketball team opens play in the Midlands College Athletic Association tournament at 5 p.m. today against College of York in the gymnasium of tournament host College of the Ozarks, in Point Lookout, Mo.

The Fighting Indians are seeded third in the two-day, four-team tournament. In the other first-round game, top-seeded College of the Ozarks plays College of St. Mary. The winners will meet in Saturday’s 5 p.m. title game.

“My team really kind of had our ups and downs, but if we play the way we played (in a recent game), we can play with anybody,” Haskell coach Phil Homeratha said.

He cited the play of Shanda Murdoch, Kortney Smith, Amber Tecumseh and Whitney Warrior as keys to Haskell making the conference tournament field for the first time.