Lenoir-Rhyne Earns Top Seed In NCAA Southeast Region Women’s Basketball Tournament

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The Lenoir-Rhyne University Women's Basketball Team will host the NCAA Division II Southeast Region Tournament set for March 13-16, NCAA officials announced Sunday evening. The Bears earn the No. 1 seed after winning both the 2008-09 South Atlantic Conference Regular Season and 2009 Food Lion SAC Tournament Championships and are one of three SAC teams in the regional tournament.

All regional games will take place at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium on the campus of Lenoir-Rhyne.

The Bears reach the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history. The 2002-03 Lenoir-Rhyne women received an automatic berth after winning the Food Lion SAC Tournament title before falling to host school Shaw University, 89-69 in the first round.

L-R will face off against the No. 8 Anderson University Trojans, who won the Conference Carolinas Tournament Championship to receive an automatic berth in the tournament.

Second-seeded Tusculum College will play No. 7 Lander University, the winners of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament. This marks the second time Tusculum has earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament, as the Pioneers will be one of 64 teams competing for the national title for the second straight season. The Pioneers fell to Lander University 83-78 in the 2-7 matchup in last year's Southeast Regional.

Tusculum drew a familiar opponent as the Pioneers will face seventh-seeded Lander (18-10) for the second straight season in the first round.

The four/five matchup will consist of Peach Belt rivals Francis Marion University and USC Aiken while No. 3 Clayton State University will face sixth-seeded Carson-Newman College.

The Lady Eagles grabbed the bid on the strength of a 19-10 year and a fourth-place finish in SAC play.

C-N draws a Clayton State team that finished the regular season 23-5 and 16-4 in Peach Belt Conference play, which was good for second place in the PBC regular-season standings.The Lady Lakers are a familiar NCAA-foe for Carson-Newman. The two teams have squared off in each of C-N's last two postseason appearances, splitting the two meetings. The Lady Eagles last NCAA appearance came in 2007, when C-N lost as the No. 8 seed to the host and top-seeded Lakers in the first round, 60-36.

C-N is 3-4 against the regional field. The Lady Eagles beat both Lander and Anderson in November meetings, but combined to go 1-4 against Tusculum (1-2) and Lenoir-Rhyne (0-2).

Details about the 2009 NCAA Division II Southeast Region Women's Basketball Tournament will be released early in the week. Please visit www.lrbears.com for tournament information.

The regional champions will advance to the NCAA Women's Elite Eight March 24, 25 and 27 at Bill Greehey Arena in San Antonio, Texas. St. Mary's University (Texas) and the San Antonio Sports will host the Elite Eight.

NCAA Division II Southeast Region
Women's Basketball Tournament

Quarterfinals - Friday, March 13 (Times TBA)
#1 Lenoir-Rhyne (26-4) vs. #8 Anderson (18-12)
#2 Tusculum (25-5) vs. #7 Lander (18-10)
#3 Clayton State (22-6) vs. #6 Carson-Newman (17-10)
#4 Francis Marion (23-4) vs. #5 USC Aiken (22-10)

Semifinals - Saturday, March 14 (Times TBA)
Lenoir-Rhyne/Anderson winner vs. Francis Marion/USC Aiken winner
Tusculum/Lander winner vs. Clayton State/Carson-Newman

Final - Monday March 16 (Time TBA)
Regional Championship