Three Women's Basketball Teams in the Postseason
MAAC Sports
Edison, N.J. - The MAAC will showcase three women's basketball teams in postseason play this year - Marist in the NCAA
Division I Women's Basketball Championship, Fairfield in the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT), and Manhattan
in the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI).
Marist (25-7), the
2012 MAAC Women's Basketball Champion, will play Georgia (22-8) on Sunday in Tallahassee, Fla. at the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center in the NCAA First Round.
The Red Foxes were selected as the No. 13 seed in the Raleigh Region, while the Bulldogs were tabbed as the fourth seed. The game is set to start at 12:05 p.m., and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.
The Red Foxes continue to be the preeminent team of the conference, earning their seventh-consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, and eighth overall after defeating Fairfield 61-35 to earn the MAAC's automatic bid. Marist last played Georgia in the 2006 NCAA Tournament, losing 75-60 to the Bulldogs in the first round. The Red Foxes are 1-9 overall versus SEC opponents, with their first-ever win coming over Auburn earlier this season. But Marist is riding a ten-game winning streak and will look to continue that trend come Sunday.
Fairfield (24-8) will host a first-round
game in the WNIT on Thursday,
March 15 in Alumni Hall against Drexel University (18-13). The game time will be announced by WNIT officials on Tuesday, March 13.
This marks only the second time the Stags have competed in the WNIT, and their first in more than a decade. It will also be the first time Fairfield has ever played Drexel in women's basketball history.
Manhattan (16-15) will be participating in the WBI for the second-consecutive season. It will host Robert Morris (18-13) in the first round at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in Draddy Gymnasium.
The Jaspers have never played Robert Morris in their history, but they will be their fourth NEC opponent season. In 2011-12, Manhattan has a 3-0 record against the conference, defeating Monmouth, St. Francis (N.Y.), and NEC Champion Sacred Heart.
Last season, the MAAC had three teams advance to the postseason.
Marist made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, bowing out to second-seeded Duke 71-66. Loyola earned a spot in the WNIT, while Manhattan received a bid to play in the WBI. The Greyhounds lost in the second round of the WNIT to Virginia, while the Jaspers advanced all the way to the semifinals of the WBI, before losing to eventual champion UAB.