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 #16 Western Carolina will battle #1 Tennessee on Sunday, March 20 in Knoxville, Tenn. Game time information will be released on Monday afternoon. |
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March 13, 2005
Click HERE to listen to Head Coach Kellie Harper's Pre-NCAA Teleconference held Sunday evening after the selection show
Cullowhee, N.C. - As a part of the Philadelphia Region of the newly-formatted NCAA Women's Basketball selection process, the Southern Conference champion-Western Carolina Lady Catamounts earned a 16th seed and the right to visit Knoxville's Thompson-Boling Arena to face the third-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols.
The two teams will face off on Sunday, March 20 in Knoxville, Tenn., in the night cap of the second session with tip-off slated for 30 minutes following the conclusion of the first game of the evening that pits eighth-seeded New Mexico against No. 9 Purdue. The Lobos and Boilermakers are slated to begin around 7:00 pm EST, with the approximate start time of the Lady Cats and Lady Vols at 9:30 pm. The game is scheduled to be televised live on ESPN2, as the ESPN family of networks is the official home of the NCAA Women's Basketball Championships.
The pairing announcement came at approximately 5:28 pm as the entire Lady Catamount team and nearly 200 supporters looked on from the on-campus movie theater.
Western Carolina (18-13) will be making its first trip to the Big Dance in the school's 40-year women's basketball history. However, dancing among March Madness is nothing new to the Lady Cats' first-year skipper. Kellie Harper, the former Kellie Jolly, is no stranger with selection Sunday parties, nor trips into post-season play. Out of the 10 years Harper has been involved with women's hoops, either as a player or a coach, she has ventured into the mania a total of nine times.
And of those nine trips, three ended by hoisting the National Championship trophy - ironically for the team she will now be challenged with stopping. Harper was a three-year starting point guard for the Lady Vols from 1996 through 1999. She will now match wits with her mentor, Pat Summitt.
"I'm excited about getting to go back to Knoxville," said Harper following the announcement of her team's trip over the mountain. "It is great that we will be close enough for our fans to make the trip with us to see us play. I'm also for excited for our senior Lori Tanner, who will be able to play in her hometown."
Western Carolina does have a history versus the University of Tennessee. The Lady Catamounts hold a 10-8 overall record versus the Lady Vols, with the last meeting in the series coming in 1977. Overall, the Lady Catamounts are the sixth Southern Conference team to advance to the NCAA tournament since the SoCon first received an automatic bid in 1989.
The winner of the Western Carolina-Tennessee game will face the winner of the New Mexico and Purdue contest on Tuesday, March 22.
Tickets for the night session are $25 and are on-sale now at the Western Carolina Athletics Ticket Office, located on the second floor in the Ramsey Center. Fans can also purchase advance session tickets by calling (800) 34-GOWCU.
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