For Immediate Release
March 3 , 2008
Piedmont women face Oglethorpe in NCAA tournament opener
DEMOREST, Ga. - The NCAA Division-III Women’s Basketball Committee announced today the field of 63 teams for the 2008 championship with the Piedmont College women's basketball team traveling to Thomas More College in Crestview Hills, KY for a four-team regional. PC will take on local rival #24 Oglethorpe University on Friday, March 7 at 5:30.
Rounding out the four-team regional will be the host Lady Saints of TMC who are currently ranked #3 nationally as they will take on USA-South Athletic Conference champion Greensboro College.
The NCAA post-season appearance is the second consecutive for the PC women's basketball team as this year marked the second straight automatic berth granted to the conference tournament champion. The NCAA selection is the sixth since Piedmont became full-fledged NCAA members five seasons ago as the men's soccer (2003), men's tennis (2004), volleyball (2007), and softball (2006) teams have each earned post-season participation as well.
Thirty-nine conferences have been awarded automatic qualification for the 2008 championship. Piedont earned its berth by virtue of winning the Great South Athletic Conference tournament. Three teams were selected from Pool B, which consists of independent institutions and institutions that are members of conferences that do not meet the requirements for automatic qualification. The final 21 berths were reserved for Pool C, which are institutions from automatic-qualifying conferences that are not the conference champion and any remaining Pool B teams.
One first-round game will be conducted March 5, one second-round game will be conducted March 8 and 15 first/second-round games will be conducted March 7-8. Second-round winners will advance to one of four sectional sites March 14-15. Winners of the four sectional games will advance to the national semi-finals March 21-22. All games, except the finals, will be played on the campuses of competing institutions. The finals will be conducted at DeVos Fieldhouse, Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
Courtesy of Piedmont College Sports Information Office
