No. 13 Lady Griz draw No. 4 Vanderbilt
3/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The University of Montana women's basketball team earned a No. 13 seed for the 2008 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship and will face No. 4 seed Vanderbilt Saturday in Albuquerque, N.M. The game will be played at The Pit/Bob King Court (18,018) at approximately 9 p.m. (MT) and will be broadcast on either ESPN or ESPN2.
The winner of the Lady Griz-Commodores game will face the winner of No. 5 West Virginia (24-7) and No. 12 New Mexico (20-12). The Mountaineers and Lobos will play in the early game Saturday evening at 6:30 p.m.
The afternoon session at Albuquerque features No. 3 Baylor (24-6) against No. 14 Fresno State (22-10) at noon and No. 6 Pittsburgh (22-10) versus No. 11 Wyoming (24-6) at approximately 2:30 p.m.
All eight teams competing in Albuquerque are in the Spokane Regional.
Montana (25-6) won the Big Sky Conference Tournament at Dahlberg Arena last weekend with victories over Portland State, 94-80, and Montana State, 101-65, to earn the Big Sky's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Vanderbilt (23-8) earned an at-large bid to the NCAAs. The Commodores went 22-7 during the regular season, finishing 11-3 in the Southeastern Conference. VU won its opening game of the SEC Tournament, 49-44, over Auburn before falling to Tennessee, 63-48, in the semifinals.
Saturday's game will be the third meeting between Montana and Vanderbilt. The Lady Griz faced the Commodores in their last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2005, dropping a 67-44 decision in Seattle, Wash., when UM was a No. 12 seed and VU a No. 5 seed.
Montana is making its 17th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Griz are 6-16 all-time in the NCAAs and will be seeking their first tournament win since 1995.
Vanderbilt is making its 21st appearance and ninth consecutive trip.
"Vanderbilt is a No. 4 seed so the committee obviously thought they were one of the 16 best teams in the country," Montana coach Robin Selvig said after watching the NCAA selection show with his team Monday evening. "It's been one of the elite programs in women's basketball for a very long time.
"We're excited about playing in Albuquerque. Staying in the west makes travel easier and New Mexico draws really well, so there will be some fans there which is a great thing for the teams competing. You don't want to go somewhere and not have any fans.
"The only surprising thing about the announcement was two trips in a row to the NCAAs and you end up facing the same team. The odds on that happening have to be pretty slim."
Vanderbilt closed the regular season winning nine of 10 to finish third in the SEC behind LSU and Tennessee, two teams which earned No. 2 and No. 1 seeds in the tournament, respectively.
Montana and Vanderbilt have one common opponent this season in Mississippi. UM defeated the Rebels 84-77 at the Lady Griz Holiday Classic in December. VU downed Ole Miss 83-50 in an SEC home game in January.
Saturday's game will feature two of the nation's best 3-point shooting teams. Montana ranks fifth nationally at 39.6 percent from 3-point range, while Vanderbilt ranks eighth at 38.7 percent. The Commodores are also one of the best shooting teams in the country, ranking seventh nationally in field goal percentage at 46.8 percent.
Junior guard/forward Christina Wirth leads Vanderbilt in scoring at 12.9 points per game and is the team's top 3-point threat with 64 triples on the season. Senior 6-4 center Liz Sherwood also averages in double figures at 11.0 points per game and shoots a team-best 62.4 percent from the field. Junior guard Jennifer Risper averages a team-best 6.4 rebounds per game.
Vanderbilt is coached by Melanie Balcomb. She is 144-51 in her sixth season with the Commodores, leading VU to 20-win seasons each year.
The winner of the Lady Griz-Commodores game will face the winner of No. 5 West Virginia (24-7) and No. 12 New Mexico (20-12). The Mountaineers and Lobos will play in the early game Saturday evening at 6:30 p.m.
The afternoon session at Albuquerque features No. 3 Baylor (24-6) against No. 14 Fresno State (22-10) at noon and No. 6 Pittsburgh (22-10) versus No. 11 Wyoming (24-6) at approximately 2:30 p.m.
All eight teams competing in Albuquerque are in the Spokane Regional.
Montana (25-6) won the Big Sky Conference Tournament at Dahlberg Arena last weekend with victories over Portland State, 94-80, and Montana State, 101-65, to earn the Big Sky's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Vanderbilt (23-8) earned an at-large bid to the NCAAs. The Commodores went 22-7 during the regular season, finishing 11-3 in the Southeastern Conference. VU won its opening game of the SEC Tournament, 49-44, over Auburn before falling to Tennessee, 63-48, in the semifinals.
Saturday's game will be the third meeting between Montana and Vanderbilt. The Lady Griz faced the Commodores in their last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2005, dropping a 67-44 decision in Seattle, Wash., when UM was a No. 12 seed and VU a No. 5 seed.
Montana is making its 17th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Griz are 6-16 all-time in the NCAAs and will be seeking their first tournament win since 1995.
Vanderbilt is making its 21st appearance and ninth consecutive trip.
"Vanderbilt is a No. 4 seed so the committee obviously thought they were one of the 16 best teams in the country," Montana coach Robin Selvig said after watching the NCAA selection show with his team Monday evening. "It's been one of the elite programs in women's basketball for a very long time.
"We're excited about playing in Albuquerque. Staying in the west makes travel easier and New Mexico draws really well, so there will be some fans there which is a great thing for the teams competing. You don't want to go somewhere and not have any fans.
"The only surprising thing about the announcement was two trips in a row to the NCAAs and you end up facing the same team. The odds on that happening have to be pretty slim."
Vanderbilt closed the regular season winning nine of 10 to finish third in the SEC behind LSU and Tennessee, two teams which earned No. 2 and No. 1 seeds in the tournament, respectively.
Montana and Vanderbilt have one common opponent this season in Mississippi. UM defeated the Rebels 84-77 at the Lady Griz Holiday Classic in December. VU downed Ole Miss 83-50 in an SEC home game in January.
Saturday's game will feature two of the nation's best 3-point shooting teams. Montana ranks fifth nationally at 39.6 percent from 3-point range, while Vanderbilt ranks eighth at 38.7 percent. The Commodores are also one of the best shooting teams in the country, ranking seventh nationally in field goal percentage at 46.8 percent.
Junior guard/forward Christina Wirth leads Vanderbilt in scoring at 12.9 points per game and is the team's top 3-point threat with 64 triples on the season. Senior 6-4 center Liz Sherwood also averages in double figures at 11.0 points per game and shoots a team-best 62.4 percent from the field. Junior guard Jennifer Risper averages a team-best 6.4 rebounds per game.
Vanderbilt is coached by Melanie Balcomb. She is 144-51 in her sixth season with the Commodores, leading VU to 20-win seasons each year.
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