March 15, 2010
NCAA Tournament Central
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The ninth-ranked and Big 12 Conference champion Texas A&M women's basketball team earned its third consecutive No. 2 seed in the upcoming 2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship as the field of 64 was announced on Selection Monday.
The Aggies (25-7) are making their seventh all-time NCAA Tournament appearance and were one of 31 automatic qualifiers after reeling off victories over three consecutive top-15 ranked opponents in No. 15 Texas in the quarterfinals, No. 3 and undefeated Nebraska in the semifinals and No. 12 Oklahoma in the finals of the 2010 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship held on March 11-14 in Kansas City.
They were also one of eight top seeds in the 64-team field including top seeds in Connecticut, Nebraska, Stanford, Tennessee, Duke, Notre Dame and Ohio State. Last year, A&M reached the NCAA Sweet 16 for the second-straight year and lost to sixth-seeded Arizona State (84-69) in the semifinals of the Trenton Regional.
A&M will face 15th-seeded and Big Sky Conference champion Portland State (18-14) in the first round of the Sacramento Regional to be held on Saturday, March 20 at 7 p.m. (CT) in Seattle, Wash. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2. The winner will move on to the second round and meet either seventh-seeded and West Coast Conference champion Gonzaga (27-4) or 10th-seeded North Carolina (19-11), an at-large selection out of the Atlantic Coast Conference on Monday, March 22 at 8:30 p.m. (CT). First-and second-round games will be played at the Bank of America Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on the campus of host University of Washington.
"It's a great time to be an Aggie," said seventh-year head coach Gary Blair who is one of only two Division I women's basketball coaches to take three teams to the NCAA Sweet 16 at Stephen F. Austin, Arkansas and A&M combined. "We are going out West - where I thought we were going to be all along. We will not be sleeping in Seattle. We will be out there ready to play good basketball. We are a better basketball team now than when we were ranked in the top 10 earlier in the season. We have so much balance and are just ready to get started."
With the second-toughest schedule in the nation, A&M had three non-conference opponents earn NCAA Tournament berths including Gonzaga, ACC champion Duke and ninth-seeded TCU. The Aggies were one of seven Big 12 schools to dance in March along with top-seeded Nebraska, third-seeded Oklahoma, fourth-seeded Oklahoma State, fourth-seeded Iowa State, fourth-seeded Baylor and sixth-seeded Texas. They went a conference-best 11-5 against ranked opponents this season.
"We are looking forward to making another strong tournament run and hopefully, win a national championship," said Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and Most Outstanding Player Danielle Adams.
The Aggies have never faced North Carolina in the 36-year history of the program, while Portland State leads 1-0 in the all-time series and A&M leads 1-0 versus Gonzaga. The Vikings are one of five teams to make their first-ever trip to the Big Dance in this year's tournament field. They previously beat the Aggies in double overtime (80-78) in the first round of the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort Classic on Nov. 17, 2001 under former head coach Peggie Gillom in Honolulu, Hawai'i.
Tickets can still be requested by calling the 12th Man Foundation Ticket Center at 1-888-99-AGGIE or online at: http://tickets.12thManFoundation.com
TEXAS A&M ALL-TIME NCAA TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES (7)
2010 - TBD (No. 2 seed)*
2009 - NCAA Sweet 16 (No. 2 seed)
2008 - NCAA Elite Eight (No. 2 seed)*
2007 - NCAA Second Round (No. 4 seed)
2006 - NCAA First Round (No. 6 seed)
1996 - NCAA First Round (No. 7 seed)*
1994 - NCAA Sweet 16 (No. 13 seed)
* NCAA Automatic Bid