UT Women's Basketball Receives NCAA Bid

INDIANAPOLIS - The University of Tampa women's basketball team is among the field of 64 in the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament, as announced Sunday evening by the NCAA.

The Spartans received the number-five seed and will match up with Gulf South Conference tournament champion Lee University in the first round on Friday at Jenkins Fieldhouse in Lakeland, Fla.

Sunshine State Conference rival Florida Southern College was selected as the top seed and host of the South Regional after winning both the SSC regular season and tournament crowns. The NCAA DII women's tournament begins March 15 with the start of regional tournaments.

UT will appear in the program's 12th NCAA South Regional after previously earning an invite in 2016. Ten of UT's 12 NCAA appearances have come under current head coach Tom Jessee as he has coached the Spartans to all six of their victories in the big dance.

The 64 teams are broken down into eight regions, with eight teams each. Twenty-four conference champions earned an automatic qualifying bid into the bracket while the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Committee selected the remaining 40 at-large bids.

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.

Game times have yet to be released by the host institution. Following is a list of the South Region field along with first-round matchups. Please visit TampaSpartans.com for complete information on the 2019 NCAA South Regional.

No. 1 Florida Southern vs. No. 8 Lane
No. 2 Union vs. No. 7 Nova Southeastern
No. 3 West Florida vs. No. 6 Eckerd
No. 4 Lee  vs. No. 5 Tampa