CLEVELAND, Tenn. — The scene will be all too familiar.

The characters will be largely the same.

But for the Lee University women’s basketball team, this time the result must change.

When the No. 2-ranked Lady Flames open the NAIA Division I national tournament against Brescia University at 1 p.m. EDT Wednesday in Jackson, Tenn., they will have several goals. First, they want to take the first step toward the national title that seems within their grasp. Second, they will look to establish bragging rights for coach Marty Rowe and senior leaders Jessica Still and Jan Dodson, all of whom came to Lee from Brescia.

And finally, they want redemption.

Lee entered last year’s national tournament as the No. 4 seed, considered a dark horse national championship contender, but a first-round upset loss to the Owensboro, Ky., school ended the Lady Flames’ season. Now 31-2 and riding a 26-game winning streak, they intend to reverse history.

“The other day, Coach walked into the gym and asked, ‘If you could draw any team in the first round of the tournament, who would it be?’” Still said. “Under my breath, I said, ‘Brescia,’ and then Coach yelled, ‘We got ’em!’

“Everybody on our team except the freshmen understands how exciting it is to redeem ourselves. I get chills just thinking about it.”

Lee’s men, also ranked second, open their NAIA tournament in Kansas City, Mo., at 5:30 p.m. EDT Thursday against Langston (Okla.) University. The Flames (31-1) were a two-point loss away from an undefeated regular season and, like the Lady Flames, won the Southern States Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament championships.

Guard Brad Harris, a Tennessee Temple transfer who was named SSAC player of the year, leads the Flames with 15.6 points per game. Fellow former Crusader Elmar Kuli-Zade leads the team with 3.6 assists per game and was SSAC newcomer of the year, while senior sharpshooter and Bradley Central alumnus Kellen Pickel added 10.5 points per game to earn the conference’s sixth man award.

The Lady Flames also dominated the conference awards, as Still was voted player of the year and former Tellico Plains star Brooke McKinnon was freshman of the year. Rowe, like men’s counterpart Tommy Brown, was coach of the year.

The Lady Flames’ strengths are their experience and offensive balance. Still, Dodson, McKinnon and Katie Nelson all average double figures, and Fallon Lee and Aaron Richmond also average more than eight points a game.

“This is easily the best team I’ve had at Lee,” Rowe said. “It’s the most balanced team we’ve had. It’s the most leadership we’ve had. And it’s the most talent we’ve had.”

While the talent and balance are remarkable, Rowe expects experience to make the difference on the national stage.

“As our season has gone on, our older players have consistently lifted their level of play and pulled up our younger players,” Rowe said. “Last year we went to nationals with such high expectations. We went down there knowing we had an opportunity. Last year was just a different feel. We had a lot of people who hadn’t been there.

“Now we know what to expect. A lot of people didn’t really understand how different it is when you go down there. We understand now.”

And while the veterans try to grasp the urgency of this opportunity, the freshman McKinnon is relishing the present and excited about the future.

“I expect this,” McKinnon said. “I expect to go to nationals every year. And my goal is to win every year.”

The Lady Flames lost 86-80 at top-ranked Union University (32-0) on Nov. 15 and 72-65 to another nationals participant, Freed-Hardeman (26-7), two nights later in Union’s Fred Delay Arena in Jackson. The NAIA nationals are held in Oman Arena.