March 15, 2010
2010 NCAA Championship Bracket in PDF Format
The San Diego State women's basketball team earned its second consecutive NCAA tournament bid and eighth in program history, as the 11th-seeded Aztecs will take on the sixth-seeded Texas Longhorns in the first round on Sunday, March 21, at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas, beginning at 6 p.m. CT (4 p.m. PT).
"We're as excited as we can be," said Aztec head coach Beth Burns. "It's right down the road from the home of the Final Four in San Antonio and there are a lot of exciting things about that. It's rare that you have an opportunity to have familiarity of your opponent. The irony is that Texas probably took our program to another level when we beat them a year ago. Now we get to see (how we match up) as a year's time has passed and (we play on) their home floor."
SDSU earned an automatic bid to the tournament, after winning the Mountain West Conference championship last Saturday in Las Vegas with a 70-60 overtime victory over Utah. Fellow league member TCU garnered an at-large selection and as a No. 9 seed will take on No. 8 Dayton in Knoxville, Tenn. This is the sixth straight NCAA tournament in which the MWC is represented by multiple teams and the 10th time overall in the conference's 12-year history.
The Aztecs will meet the Longhorns for the third time in school history and the second consecutive season. A year ago, SDSU knocked off then No. 4 and unbeaten Texas, 60-55, in the championship game of the Surf `N Slam tournament in San Diego on Dec. 30, 2008. The victory was the Aztecs' first over an Associated Press top 25 team in 14 years. The Longhorns, who boast a 22-10 overall record and are ranked as high as 17th nationally, claimed the first-ever meeting between the two sides in 1995 in Austin (69-58).
The winner of the SDSU-Texas game will play the winner of the No. 3 West Virginia vs. No. 14 Lamar game on Tuesday, March 23, beginning at 8:30 p.m. CT for the chance to advance to the Sweet 16 and a spot in the Memphis regional, March 27 and 29.
This is the fourth time in program history that the Aztecs have been to back-to-back NCAA tournaments, doing so in 1984 and 1985, and making three consecutive appearances from 1993-95. SDSU has never played an NCAA tournament game in the state of Texas and is 1-1 when playing its first round game on its opponent's home floor. The Aztecs won their first round NCAA contest a year ago as a No. 10 seed, upsetting No. 7 DePaul, 76-70, before falling to No. 2 Stanford.
Sunday's game will be televised live on ESPN2, while Chris Ello will have the call from Austin on XTRA Sports 1360 AM. For ticket information, contact the Aztec Ticket Office at Qualcomm Stadium Ticket Window E or over the phone at (619) 283-7378.
2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship
First & Second Rounds
At Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas
Sunday, March 21, 2010
6 p.m. CT (4 p.m. PT)
No. 11 San Diego State at No. 6 Texas (ESPN2/XTRA Sports 1360)
8:30 p.m. CT approx. (6:30 p.m. PT)
No. 14 Lamar vs. No. 3 West Virginia (ESPN2)
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
8:30 p.m. CT (6:30 p.m. PT)
Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 (ESPN2)