March 16, 2009
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PHOTO GALLERY
2009 NCAA Bracket 
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of Maryland earned a No. 1 seed in the Raleigh Region of the 2009 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, the NCAA announced on Monday, and will take on the 16th-seeded Ivy League champions from Dartmouth College on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET at Comcast Center.
Maryland (28-4, 12-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) claimed both the ACC regular-season and tournament titles in 2009 for the first time in 20 years. The Terrapins will enter NCAA play as a No. 1 seed for the third time in school history and for the second straight year.
"We are very excited to have earned a No. 1 seed," seventh-year Maryland head coach Brenda Frese said. "This team has worked extremely hard to get to this point of the season and we're looking forward to playing host to Dartmouth, Villanova and Utah at the Comcast Center."
The Ivy League champion Big Green and ACC champion Maryland will square off for the first time in history on Sunday. Maryland will be making its 17th NCAA appearance and sixth straight, having compiled a 24-16 all-time record in the tournament. The Terps have won five consecutive first-round games and are 12-4 in the NCAA Tournament under Frese.
Dartmouth (18-10, 13-1 Ivy League) has made six prior trips to the NCAA Tournament, last in 2006, and is still in search of its first tournament win. The Big Green is led by Ivy League Player of the Year Brittney Smith, who averages 14.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.
The winner of the Terps-Big Green contest will face the winner of the No. 8 Villanova-No. 9 Utah game in Tuesday's second round. The Wildcats and Utes will tip-off at 12 noon on Sunday at Comcast Center. Maryland has played each team just once, falling to Villanova in a December 1981 contest in College Park. The Terps' lone contest against Utah was a memorable one, a 75-65 overtime victory in the 2006 Albuquerque Regional Final that catapulted Maryland into the Final Four.
Maryland went on the claim its first national title that season, defeating Duke in overtime in Boston, Mass. Seniors Kristi Toliver and Marissa Coleman were freshmen on the 2006 Maryland squad and bring tremendous postseason experience into the '09 NCAA Tournament.
"We're very eager to get back to the Final Four," Coleman said. "Our regular-season accomplishments got us in position to earn a No. 1 seed, but all we can do right now is focus on Dartmouth and getting a first-round win."
Tickets for first- and second-round action can be purchased by calling the Maryland Athletics Ticket office (1-800-462-TERP) or by logging on to umterps.com.
