March 13, 2006

QUEENS, N.Y. - St. John's women's basketball returns to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 1988 season and will face No. 10 seed California in University Park, Pa., in the first round on Sunday, March 19, at noon. The Red Storm, seeded No. 7, enters the tournament with a 21-7 overall record and is led by BIG EAST Coach of the Year Kim Barnes Arico.

The other game in the pod features No. 2 seed Maryland against No. 15 seed Sacred Heart on Sunday. The second-round matchup takes place on Tuesday, March 21.

The games will be played at the Bryce Jordan Center on the campus of Penn State and the St. John's-California matchup will air on ESPN2.

"It was so exciting to see our name called," Barnes Arico said. "I'm so proud of our kids and of how far the program has come. It's great to get to play at Penn State because it's close enough that our fans will get a chance to travel and watch us play."

After being picked to finish eighth in the BIG EAST, the Red Storm posted an impressive 11-5 league mark and stormed to a fourth-seed in the conference tournament. This year, St. John's entered both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls for the first time in more than 20 years.

The BIG EAST secured seven bids, which tied for the second-most in conference history. Joining St. John's in the Big Dance are Connecticut, Rutgers, DePaul, Louisville, South Florida and Notre Dame.

The last time St. John's was in an NCAA Tournament was 1988, when it advanced to the second round with an 83-70 win over Fairfield.