NCAA women's tournament bids out

[KFDM COOP]

NCAA women's tournament bids out

The Blue Devils, who went 29-0 in the regular season and then lost to N.C. State in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinals, will open up against No. 16 Holy Cross on Sunday in Raleigh. With a regional in Greensboro, Duke would stay in North Carolina until the Final Four in Cleveland.

The 64-team tournament begins Saturday.

"We're really excited. We're playing all year long, hoping to get a chance to stay in Raleigh, and stay in Greensboro which is about an hour and 15 minutes down the road," Duke coach Gail Goestenkors said.

Duke, ranked atop the AP Poll for the final nine weeks, hopes for better results than the last time the Blue Devils finished No. 1 - the 2003-04 final poll. They lost to Minnesota in the regional finals that season.

Others in the Greensboro regional are No. 8 Temple vs. No. 9 Nebraska, No. 4 Rutgers vs. No. 12 East Carolina, No. 5 Michigan State vs. No. 12 Delaware, No. 6 Louisville vs. No. 11 Brigham Young, No. 3 Arizona State vs. No. 14 UC Riverside, No. 7 Bowling Green vs. No. 10 Oklahoma State, and No. 2 Vanderbilt vs. No. 15 Delaware State.

In the West, LSU, which saw Pokey Chatman abruptly resign last Wednesday, is No. 3 in the Fresno region.

Former coach Chatman was not allowed to be alone with her players after an assistant reported alleged improper conduct to the university in February, a school official with direct knowledge of the matter told The Associated Press on Monday.

The university reacted promptly and properly to assistant coach Carla Berry's allegations, said the official, who asked to remain anonymous because it was a personnel matter.

The Tigers will play UNC Asheville on Friday night in Austin with acting head coach Bob Starkey at the helm.

"The kids have done a wonderful job," Starkey said. "They are a very resilient bunch. They have been through difficult times with Sue Gunter's death and Hurricane Katrina."

The defending champion Maryland Terrapins will face Ivy League champion Harvard on Sunday afternoon in Hartford.

Maryland, which returned all five starters from last season's team, was 0-5 against Duke and North Carolina this season. The Terps are looking to become the first repeat champions since Connecticut won three straight from 2002-04.

"The only team that's going into the tournament knowing they can win it is Maryland, cause they've won it, and they've got a lot of the players back from the team that won it," Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said. "Everybody else is going in with the same mind-set, 'I think we can win it,' and that's how we're going into it."

West No. 1 Connecticut (29-3) will play No. 16 UMBC on Sunday in Hartford.

If they advance past the first two rounds, the Huskies then must travel to Fresno, Calif., for the regionals. During its run of five national championships since 1995, Connecticut hasn't been farther West than Kansas City.

The Huskies eventually could face No. 2 Stanford, which opens up at home against No. 15 Idaho State.

The sentimental choice in Fresno might be North Carolina State and coach Kay Yow. The Wolfpack, who have won 11 of the 13 games since Yow returned after breast cancer treatments, are No. 4 in Fresno. They will play Robert Morris on Sunday in the first round in the Raleigh subregional.

Also in the West bracket, it will be: No. 5 Baylor vs. No. 12 Chattanooga, No. 6 Xavier vs. No. 11 West Virginia, and No. 7 Old Dominion vs. No. 10 Florida State.

North Carolina, which won the ACC conference tournament, earned a No. 1 spot for the third straight season and will open Sunday against Prairie View. The Tar Heels are the top teams in the Dallas region. Other games in the region include No. 8 California vs. No. 9 Notre Dame, No. 5 George Washington vs. No. 12 Boise State, No. 4 Texas A&M vs. No. 13 Texas-Arlington, No. 6 Iowa State vs. No. 11 Washington, No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 14 Belmont, No. 7 Georgia Tech vs. No. 10 DePaul, and No. 2 Purdue vs. No. 15 Oral Roberts.

The Boilermakers won the Big Ten tournament championship.

The Big East placed the most teams in the championship bracket with eight, followed by the Atlantic Coast and Big 12 with six each.

Six-time champion Tennessee is now the only team that has competed in every NCAA tournament after Louisiana Tech didn't make the field this year. The Lady Vols, who are a No. 1 seed for the 17th time in 20 years, will open up Sunday against No. 16 Drake in Pittsburgh. The No. 8 Panthers will host No. 9 James Madison in the other game in that subregional.

Other games in the Dayton regional include: No. 5 Middle Tennessee, which has won 26 straight games, vs. No. 12 Gonzaga; No. 4 Ohio State vs. No. 13 Marist; No. 6 Marquette vs. No. 11 Louisiana-Lafayette; No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 14 Southeast Missouri State; No. 7 Mississippi vs. No. 10 TCU.

Holy Cross and Drake became the fifth and sixth teams with losing records to make the tournament. The Crusaders won the Patriot League, and the Bulldogs were victorious in the Missouri Valley Conference.

The women's Final Four is April 1-3 in Cleveland.

[SHS_ATW]

Middle Tennessee FTW!!!!!!!!!

[lonestar]

A&M is the only Big XII school and for the second year in a row the only Texas school to have both the mens and womens basketball teams make the NCAA tourney.

Good look Lady Ags!