posted March 21, 2008
The UTC Lady Mocs basketball team will make their ninth appearance in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday morning after receiving the Southern Conference’s automatic bid for winning the league tournament in Charleston.
Over the last eight years, Chattanooga (29-3) has received the league’s bid seven times. UTC received its third straight No. 12 seed and will be opposed by No. 5 Kansas State at noon in Bridgeport, Conn., at the Arena at Harbor Yard in the New Orleans Regional.
For the third time in five years, the Lady Mocs are entering the postseason with the nation’s longest active winning streak, currently at 24 games. Two years ago UTC saw its 26 game win streak end against Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament. However, it was in 2004 that the Lady Mocs posted their best record in school history after defeating Rutgers in the first round of the “Big Dance” and extended its win streak to a school record 27 games.
With a 29-3 overall mark this season, Chattanooga has equaled its record from 2003-04, the best in school history. A first round win would give the Lady Mocs their only 30-win season. Chattanooga is 1-8 in the NCAA Tournament.
The Wildcats (21-9) won the Big 12 regular season title but were eliminated from their conference tournament in the quarterfinals in overtime by Iowa State. K-State is 8-9 in its previous nine NCAA Tournament bids with its last appearance in 2005 in Seattle, Wash. During the 2005 NCAA Tournament, the Wildcats were a No. 4 seed and defeated Bowling Green, 70-60, and fell to No. 5 Vanderbilt in the second round, 63-60. This is the first time K-State enters the NCAA Tournament as the No. 5 seed.
This is the sixth straight postseason appearance for the Wildcats, as K-State has appeared in four NCAA Tournaments and two postseason WNITs in the last six seasons. K-State captured the 2006 WNIT title for the first postseason title in school history and reached the semifinals of the 2007 WNIT. The Wildcats have advanced to the second round in the last four NCAA Tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16 effort during the 2002 NCAA Tournament.
Under head coach Deb Patterson, K-State has now reached the NCAA Tournament six times and registered a 5-5 record with four straight second round appearances.
The winner of the Chattanooga-Kansas State matchup will play the winner of the No. 4 Louisville-No. 13 Miami (Ohio) game on Tuesday. Both are familiar opponents as the Lady Mocs faced both this season. Chattanooga fell to Louisville 80-53 in the championship game of the UTC Panera Bread Challenge at Thanksgiving but defeated Miami in the UTSA New Year’s Classic 88-63.
The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2. Larry Ward, the “Voice of the Lady Mocs” will have all the action live on WDOD-AM 1310 or online around the world at the official station of the Lady Mocs, GoMocs.com.
| Dining Out | Business | Movies | Focus | About Us |
| Church | Living Well | Memories | Outdoors | Real Estate | Student Scene | Travel |