March 17, 2008

• NCAA Tournament Bracket

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell women's basketball team's NCAA Tournament destination is set. The Bison will face Atlantic Coast Conference champion North Carolina, the No. 1 seed in the "New Orleans" region, on Sunday, March 23, at the Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk, Va. Game time is slated for 12 p.m. and the contest will be broadcast regionally on ESPN2. The broadcast will also be available on ESPN360.

Bucknell, which won the Patriot League championship last week to earn its second NCAA Tournament bid, was seeded 16th. North Carolina is 30-2 on the season (14-0 ACC), with its only two losses coming to Tennessee and Connecticut, who are also No. 1 seeds. The Tar Heels were ranked No. 2 in the latest USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Poll.

"I am so excited," commented Bucknell 11th-year head coach Kathy Fedorjaka following the bracket announcement. "It is a great opportunity to be playing such a storied basketball program. We are looking to go down to Norfolk and represent Bucknell and the Patriot League and play well.

"The team has approached this well and has been very focused. We have had good practices the last couple of days and are looking forward to this weekend."

With its 57-45 victory at Holy Cross in the Patriot League championship game last Wednesday in Worcester, Mass., the Bison received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It is the team's second NCAA Tournament, having previously advanced to the "Big Dance" in 2002. Seeded 15th that year, Bucknell lost to No. 2 Baylor 80-56 in Waco, Texas.

The Bison and Tar Heels have never met, but Bucknell did face ACC member Duke in December, falling to the Blue Devils by a 92-49 score at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The Bison are bracketed in the New Orleans Regional, and the winner of the Bucknell-North Carolina game will meet the winner of eighth-seeded Georgia (22-9) and ninth-seeded Iowa (21-10). No. 5 Old Dominion vs. No. 12 Liberty and No. 4 Virginia vs. No. 13 UC Santa Barbara will be the other two games played in Norfolk. Those contests are part of the Greensboro Regional.