University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC Earns At-Large Bid To NCAA Tournament
March 14, 2011 | Women's Basketball
March 14, 2011
CHAPEL HILL --- The University of North Carolina women's basketball team was awarded an at-large bid to the 2011 NCAA Tournament and will open play against WAC champion Fresno State on Saturday, March 19, in Albuquerque, N.M. UNC, which enters the tournament with a record of 26-8, is the No. 5 seed in the Spokane Region, while the Bulldogs (25-7) are the No. 12 seed.
Carolina and Fresno State will meet at approximately 4 p.m. EDT, with the winner facing the winner of No. 4 seed Kentucky and No. 13 Hampton on Monday.
"This group is extremely excited to start the tournament and compete for a national championship," head coach Sylvia Hatchell said Monday evening. "I think we are peaking at the right time. The players have come together down the stretch and they have shown that they are completely focused on the goal of winning a championship, and that starts Saturday against Fresno State."
"We're ready to get the tournament started," senior Jessica Breland said. "Seeing our name up there, it lets you set a roadmap in your mind, so you know who you're playing and you can start preparing mentally. We don't know much about Fresno State yet, but we know we're going to go out there and play how we play, which is to play Carolina basketball."
UNC is one of six Atlantic Coast Conference teams in the field, along with No. 2 seed Duke, No. 3 Miami, No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 Maryland and No. 5 Georgia Tech.
Carolina has faced seven of the other 63 teams in the field, compiling a 6-7 record in 13 games. The Tar Heels have wins over ACC foes Duke, Miami and Florida State as well as No. 6-seeded Iowa from the Big Ten and No. 14 Gardner-Webb, the champion of the Big South.
