Monday, March 17, 2008

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Mar. 17, 2008) --- For the first time in school history the ETSU women's basketball team is playing in the NCAA Tournament.

After much anticipated wait, the Lady Buccaneers finally learned their opponent, destination and seed Monday night as the NCAA Selection Committee announced its tournament pairings. The 14th-seeded Lady Bucs will face No. 3 seed Oklahoma State at 7 p.m. CST on Saturday live on ESPN2. The first two rounds will be played in the Wells Fargo Arena at the Iowa Events Center located in Des Moines.

The Lady Bucs secured a slot into the Big Dance after defeating Jacksonville in the Atlantic Sun Championship back on Mar. 8 in Nashville. ETSU has won eight straight games (tying a program mark) and 15 of its last 16 contests.

Oklahoma State was one of eight teams from the Big 12 conference to get into the tournament. The Cowgirls stand 25-7, 11-5 in conference play and are ranked 13^th in the AP and 14^th in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches' Poll.

This will mark the first meeting between the two schools.  The winner will advance and meet the winner of Ohio State and Florida State.

Fans wishing to purchase tickets can call the ETSU ticket office at 423-439-3878. Ticket orders will be processed until Wednesday at 11 a.m. The Lady Buccaneer faithful who cannot make the trip can follow all the action live at Fanatics, which will be used as the ETSU headquarters in Johnson City throughout the tournament.

For more information on the Lady Bucs and the NCAA Tournament, visit www.ETSUBucs.com or www.NCAASports.com.