WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TO PLAY AT PITTSBURGH IN NCAA FIRST ROUND

From: Media Relations

March 13, 2007

HARRISONBURG — The James Madison women's basketball team has received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and will play the Pittsburgh Panthers on their home court on Sunday, March 18.

Tip-off for the contest is 9:30 p.m., and the game will be televised on ESPN2.

The Dukes are seeded ninth in the region and Pitt is seeded eighth. The winner advances to a second-round game between the winner of the game between top-seeded Tennessee and Drake.

JMU's NCAA tournament appearance will be the Dukes' seventh overall and their first since the 1995-96 season. JMU played in four straight NCAA events from the 1985-86 season through 1988-89 and in the 1990-91 tournament in addition the 1995-96 appearance.

The Dukes in 1985-86, 1986-87, 1987-88 and 1990-91 reached the "Sweet 16" of the NCAA Tournament.

JMU in 1985-86 reached the "Sweet 16" with a victory at regionally top-seeded Virginia, and the Dukes in 1990-91 defeated nationally No. 1-ranked Penn State en route to their "Sweet 16" appearance.

JMU will enter post-season play with a 27-5 record after finishing second in last weekend's CAA tournament.

Pittsburgh is 23-8 and will be making its first NCAA tournament appearance. The Panthers, who were 10-6 and tied for fifth place in the Big East Conference regular-season race, have established a team record for victories in a season.

In addition to the JMU-Pittsburgh and Tennessee-Drake games, other contests Sunday at the Panthers' Petersen Events Center will include California and Notre Dame at noon in an ESPN2 telecast and North Carolina and Prairie View A&M in a 2:30 p.m. contest that will be televised by ESPN.

JMU is joined in the NCAA Tournament by two Colonial Athletic Association teams, marking the first time the league has had more than two teams in the NCAA Championships. CAA champion Old Dominion plays Florida State in a first-round game at Stanford, and CAA semifinalist Delaware meets Rutgers in the first round at Michigan State.

For ticket information and more women's basketball stories, check http://www.jmusports.com/Team/Stories/13_4987.asp?TeamID=13&NewsID=4987

# # #