UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The No. 11/12 Penn State Lady Lions (24-6, 13-3) earned their second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance after claiming a No. 4 seed in the 2012 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament where they will face No. 13 seed UTEP (29-3, 15-1 C-USA) on Sunday at 5:15 p.m. (ET) in Baton Rouge, La. The game will be televised on ESPN2. The Penn State-UTEP contest will be the first game of a doubleheader with No. 5 seed LSU (22-10, 10-6 SEC) facing No. 12 San Diego State (25-6, 12-2 Mountain West) 25 minutes after the conclusion of the first game on ESPN2. The winner of each game will face off in a second round matchup on Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. (ET).
Penn State is making its 23rd NCAA Tournament appearance and second-straight. The Lady Lions are making back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since earning seven consecutive berths from 1999-05. Penn State is one of only 12 teams to earn 23 or more NCAA Tournament berths. The Lady Lions are 27-22 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
Tickets in the Penn State block for the Lady Lions’ NCAA First Round game will be available by calling 1-800-NITTANY beginning Tuesday, March 13 from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and on Wednesday, March 14 from 8-11 a.m. Or by visiting the Athletic Ticket Office at the Bryce Jordan Center between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Tuesday and 9 a.m and 11 a.m. on Wednesday. Single sessions tickets for the Baton Rouge site are $15 for adults and $10 for youth, while All-Session tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for youth. Handling fee of $1/ticket will be added to each order.
The Lady Lions and the Miners have faced off once in program history with Penn State picking up a 97-67 win on Nov. 18, 1983 in the Wyoming Dial Classic. The Lady Lions are 4-0 all-time against current Conference USA teams. As for the other teams in the Baton Rouge bracket, Penn State is 3-2 all-time against LSU and 2-0 versus San Diego State. This is Penn State’s third time playing in the state of Louisiana for the NCAA Tournament with two trips to Ruston, La. in 1999 and 2001.
Penn State claimed its first Big Ten regular-season title since 2004 with a 13-3 mark in Big Ten play. The Lady Lions are 11th in this week’s Associated Press poll and 12th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll with a 24-6 record. Guards Maggie Lucas (Narberth, Pa.) and Alex Bentley (Indianapolis, Ind.) were both named to the All-Big Ten first team after averaging 19.1 and 14.2 ppg, respectively. Lucas is second in the conference in scoring and ranks in the Top 25 in the NCAA in scoring, three-point field goal percentage (.411) and free throw percentage (.887). Bentley led the Big Ten in steals (3.1) during conference play, becoming the first Lady Lion to accomplish the feat since 2005. Head coach Coquese Washington was selected as the Big Ten Coach of the Year after leading the Lady Lions to the Big Ten regular-season title.