And so it begins:
The No. 1 UConn women’s basketball team has been selected as the No. 1 seed in the Lincoln Regional of the 2014 NCAA Tournment. The Huskies will play their opening round game vs. No. 16 seed and Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Tournament Champion Prairie View A&M University (14-17) at Gampel Pavilion (10,167) in Storrs, Conn., on Sunday, March 23 at 8 p.m. (EDT) on ESPN.
No. 8 seed Georgia (20-11) will square-off against No. 9 seed Saint Joseph’s (22-9) in Sunday’s other first-round game at Gampel beginning at 5:30 p.m. (EDT) on ESPN.
Sunday’s first-round winners will advance to the second-round game on Tuesday, March 25 at 7:00 p.m. (EDT), also in Storrs.
The winner of Monday’s second round showdown will advance to the NCAA Regional Semifinals, which will be played at Pinnacle Bank Arena (14,970) in Lincoln, Neb. on Saturday, March 29. The Lincoln Regional Final is scheduled for Monday, March 31 at 9:30 EDT.
Who is coming to Storrs
Prairie View A&M
Prairie View A&M’s LaReahn Washington (0)
Prairie View, Texas, 14-17.
Nickname: Lady Panthers. Coach: Dawn Brown.
Conference: Southwestern Athletic Conference. Bid: Automatic.
Region: Nebraska. Seed: No. 16.
Tournament Record: 0-4, 4 years. Last appearance: 2013.
Scoring: Team (65.4): Jeanette Jackson 19.4; LaReahn Washington 9.6; Alexus Parker 8.6.
Rebounds: Team (38.3); Larissa Scott 8.3; Shamiya Brooks 6.4; Asha Hampton-Finch 4.6.
Assists/Turnovers: Team (10.0/18.1); Jeanette Jackson 3.8/4.0; LaReahn Washington 2.6/4.0.
3-pointers: Team (.294); Jeanette Jackson 60; Gabrielle Scott 32.
Last Ten: 7-3.
The Skinny: Became the ninth team to make the NCAAs with a losing record. The Lady Panthers lost their first 11 games of the season before taking the SWAC title.
Georgia
Athens, 20-11.
Nickname: Lady Bulldogs. Coach: Andy Landers.
Conference: SEC. Bid: At-Large.
Region: Nebraska. Seed: No. 8.
Tournament Record: 55-30, 30 years, Last Appearance: 2013.
Scoring: (66.4); Shacobia Barbee 12.3, Erika Ford 10.7.
Rebounds: (40.1); Shacobia Barbee 7.0, Krista Donald 6.9.
Assists/Turnovers: Team (13.9/16.2); Shacobia Barbee 3.2/2.2, Khaalidah Miller 3.1/2.4.
3-pointers: Team (.299); Khaalidah Miller 49; Tiaria Griffin 40.
Last Ten: 5-5.
The Skinny: Georgia makes its 31st appearance in the 33 editions of the NCAA tournament, the second most behind only Tennessee. The Lady Bulldogs are making their 20th straight NCAA appearance and have advanced to the Sweet 16 or farther in seven of the last 10 editions. Georgia returns eight letterwinners from last year’s team that lost to Cal in overtime in the Spokane Regional championship. … Shacobia Barbee is the only player in the SEC and one of only eight Division I players nationally who finished the regular season leading their team in average points, rebounds, assists and steals.
Saint Joseph’s
Philadelphia, 22-9
Nickname: Hawks. Coach: Cindy Griffin.
Conference: Atlantic 10. Bid: At-Large.
Region: Nebraska. Seed: No. 9.
Tournament Record: 6-12, 12 years. Last appearance: 2013.
Scoring: (72.2); Erin Shields 14.9; Sarah Fairbanks 12.9; Natasha Cloud 11.5.
Rebounds: (3937.62); Natasha Cloud 6.7; Sarah Fairbanks 6.0; Ilza Gotfrida 5.2; Ashley Robinson 5.2.
Assists/Turnovers: Team (16.5/12.4); Natasha Cloud 7.8/3.2; Erin Shields 3.4/1.9.
3-pointers Team (.349); Erin Shields 88; Kelsey Berger 21.
Last Ten: 6-4.
The Skinny: The Hawks had big wins at home over tournament teams Dayton, Penn and Wichita State. It’s the fourth time in team history that Saint Joseph’s won 10 or more games at home and on the road. … Erin Shields is three 3-pointers shy of matching the SJU single-season mark of 91. … Natasha Cloud is eighth assists shy of the single season mark of 241. She also is a Nancy Lieberman Award finalist and played through a mild tragedy this season as her family home burned down in December and she happened to be there. Thankfully no one was hurt and she dashed back in to save a couple of the family pets.