Women's Basketball Earns NCAA Tournament Bid
3/14/2004 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 14, 2004
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Maryland women's basketball team returns to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2001 season and faces No. 5-seed Miami (Fla.) in Baton Rouge, La., in the first round on Sunday, March 21 at 7 p.m.. The other game in the pod pits fourth-seeded and host LSU and 13th-seeded Austin Peay. The second-round matchup takes place on Tuesday, March 23.
"I am so proud of our kids. You can see the tears of joy and they have worked so hard for this," said head coach Brenda Frese who is making her second appearance in the NCAA Tournament as a head coach and her first at the Maryland helm. "I am so happy for our seniors and our program. This is a sweet reward. It is a great bracket and we're so excited and ready to take care of business. We're ready to move forward in this tournament. It just goes to show that when you have a team that works together and works hard that anything is possible."
The 12th seed in the West Region, the Terps are 17-12 on the season and finished in a tie for third in the ACC with an 8-8 record after being picked to finish eighth in a preseason poll. Maryland is making its 13th NCAA Tournament appearance in school history.
Maryland plays Miami (Fla.) in the first round. The Hurricanes are 22-6 on the season and 11-5 in the Big East, having lost to eventual conference champion Boston College in the first round of the tournament, 65-53. They are ranked 24th in the March 8th ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.
Also squaring off in the first round in Baton Rouge, La., are LSU and Austin Peay. No. 17/16 LSU earned an at-large bid into the tournament after falling to eventual SEC champion Vanderbilt. The Tigers head into the tournament at 23-7 overall and were 10-4 in conference play.
A member of the Ohio Valley Conference, Austin Peay captured its fourth-straight conference tournament title, claiming the NCAA Tournament automatic bid, with a 65-51 victory over Eastern Kentucky. The Lady Govs are 23-7 overall and went 14-2 in conference action.
Maryland is one of four ACC teams playing in the NCAA Tournament next weekend. Duke garnered a No. 1 seed and North Carolina (No. 4) and NC State (No. 10) also earned at-large bids.
The Terps' last NCAA Tournament appearance was in 2001 when they fell to Colorado State, 83-69, in the first round in Storrs, Conn.
NCAA Tournament games will be broadcast on ESPN and ESPN2.
-QUOTES-
Here is what Maryland head coach Brenda Frese and players had to say about Maryland's first NCAA Tournament bid since the 2000-01 season:
Head Coach Brenda Frese:
"I am so proud of our kids. You can see the tears of joy and they have worked so hard for this. I am so happy for our seniors and our program. This is a sweet reward. It is a great bracket and we're so excited and ready to take care of business. We're ready to move forward in this tournament. It just goes to show that when you have a team that works together and works hard that anything is possible.
We can't be content just making the tournament. We're a really young team and to see how far we were able to come together is great. We're playing our best basketball of the season and it is a great time for us to be doing that."
Terp freshman Shay Doron:
"It feels great. We had expectations and they came true. Its amazing. We are thrilled. I didn't even see who we were playing at first, I just saw Maryland on the screen and starting jumping up and down."
Terp senior Delvona Oliver:
"As soon as I woke up this morning, I was so nervous. It feels so great to be off the bubble. To know that we are in, it feels just terrific."
