Spartans Set to Learn NCAA Tournament Fate Sunday Night
INDIANAPOLIS - The University of Tampa women's basketball team will learn if it is among the field in the 64-team D2 tournament as the championship bracket will be announced at 10 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 10, on NCAA.com. The No. 1 seeds from each region will be announced within an hour from the start of the selection show on both the NCAA DII Twitter and Facebook page. The NCAA DII women's tournament begins March 15 with the start of regional tournaments.
Head coach Tom Jessee's Spartans finished second in the Sunshine State Conference with a 15-5 league record as they currently stand at 21-8 overall. UT is led by a pair of first-team all-SSC selections in Dori Nagy and Staja Tyghter.
Nagy was also named the SSC Newcomer of the Year as the sophomore from Pécs, Hungary is averaging 13.6 points and 9.0 rebounds per contest.
A senior from Orlando, Fla., Tyghter leads all Spartans at 14.3 points per game while shooting 47.4 percent from the field and 40.6 percent from beyond the arc. She also averages 8.6 rebounds per game while registering 11 double-doubles this season.
UT is looking to appear in the program's 12th NCAA South Regional after previously earning an invite in 2016. Nine of UT's 11 NCAA appearances have come under Jessee as he has coached the Spartans to all six of their victories in the big dance.
PRINT YOUR BRACKET: Bracket, schedule, and FAQs on the DII women's basketball tournament
The 64 teams are broken down into eight regions, with eight teams each. Twenty-four conference champions will earn an automatic qualifying bid into the bracket while the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Committee will select the remaining 40 at-large bids. For the past three weeks, the committee has released Regional Rankings, listing the top 10 teams per region.
FINAL RANKINGS: Here's how all eight regions stand heading into selection Sunday
The eight regions are made up of the 24 DII women's basketball conferences plus six Independent teams. The breakdown per region is as follows:
| REGION | CONFERENCES |
|---|---|
| Atlantic | CIAA, MEC, PSAC, Independent (2) |
| Central | GAC, MIAA, NSIC |
| East | CACC, ECC, NE10 |
| Midwest | GLIAC, GLVC, G-MAC, Independent (1) |
| South | GSC, SIAC, SSC, Independent (3) |
| South Central | Heartland, LSC, RMAC |
| Southeast | CC, PBC, SAC |
| West | CCAA, GNAC, PacWest |
TOURNAMENT WATCH: Red-hot teams | Stat leaders | Undefeated tracker
The DII women's basketball championship commences on Friday, Mar. 15. The No. 1 seed from each region will play the host through the regional tournament. The Elite Eight then moves to Alumni Hall in Columbus, Ohio where the national quarterfinals, semifinals and championship games will be played from Mar. 26-29.
| EVENT | DATE | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| Selection show | Sun., Mar. 10 | 10:00 p.m. ET |
| Regional rounds (Rounds 1-3) | Mar. 15-18 | TBD |
| Elite Eight | Mar. 26 | Noon, 2:30 p.m., 6 p.m., and 8:30 p.m. ET |
| Semifinals | Mar. 27 | 6:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. ET |
| Championship game | Mar. 29 | 7:00 p.m. ET |
This marks the 38th official DII women's basketball season. Central Missouri captured its first national championship since 1984 last season. The Jennies defeated reigning national champion Ashland 66-52, snapping the Eagles historic 73-game winning streak. A championship history is listed below.