WORLAND - It was a frustrating end to the regular season for the Worland Lady Warriors, but with the postseason here, they have turned their attention to the 3A West regional tournament and one of the four state tournament bids up for grabs.

Worland (9-12, 3-3 3A Northwest) lost to Kemmerer 38-31 on Feb. 26 at WHS in their regular season and home finale. After a strong start offensively, the Lady Warriors struggled with their shot in the second half.

"Offensively, we started out well. We were up 13 at one point in the first quarter. We went into halftime with a seven- or eight-point lead. Then we scored six in the third and two in the fourth quarter. We could not buy a bucket. We got good shots and attacked the rim. When that didn't work, we were shooting from outside, and nothing was falling. It was the most frustrated I've been, and it was for the kids. They were doing everything we asked and were getting great looks, but nothing was going in.

Having locked up the NW No. 2-seed a few weeks ago, Worland faces the SW No. 3-seed Mountain View Lady Buffaloes today at 4 p.m.

While it wasn't the ideal way heading into the 3A West regional tournament in Powell, the Lady Warriors are approaching the postseason with a fresh slate.

"As much as you want to build off a win coming into this week, you go into the tournament 0-0, and the most important game of this tournament is this first one against Mountain View. They're very quick, and they do a tremendous job of playing up-tempo. We really have to match that on both ends of the floor. Once again, we'll have to break pressure, and Mountain View does a great job with that. I think where our kids are at right now, we're in a good place at beating pressure. We're looking forward to the game," said Mortimer.

Mountain View is 13-8 overall and 3-2 in their last five games, dropping their final two games to Lyman and Pinedale last week.

Defeating Mountain View won't be easy, but Worland can match size with them. And while the Lady Buffaloes do apply full-court pressure, the Lady Warriors have made tremendous strides forward when facing that type of pressure.

"For us, the size matchup is a really good one. Mountain View does a couple of things really well; one of them is rebounding. They're a top-three rebounding team. I really hope that our size and what we do negates some of that," said Mortimer. "Offensively and our transition, with where we're at right now, we've come a long way, and I'm hoping that equalizes some of their pressure that we can get it up and down the floor against them."

This week's regional games are the first postseason experience for many Lady Warriors. This could be a blessing and a curse as the lack of experience could lead to players rising to the occasion, or the nerves could rattle them at key points in the game.

Mortimer and his staff have kept the focus less on the scope of regionals and more on their opponent. Because even though Mountain View is the No. 3-seed, they are the favorites, and the Lady Warriors will embrace that underdog role.

"We had a great practice to start the week. I don't want to spend a lot of time visiting about that stuff because they are so new, but we'll see how the nerves do. We do have a lot of raw talent, and you kind of worry about that early in those games, but Mountain View is in that same boat.

"When you look at the quads, we're the underdog with our roster and record. We're not going into this thinking we're a two-seed. We're the underdog, and we're the ones who have to outplay a team who had to play Lyman twice and Pinedale twice this season to get to where they're at. That's the mentality we're taking into this game," said Mortimer.