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Last updated on Tuesday, March 17, 2009
(INDIANAPOLIS, IN) - Four Indiana schools are in the field as the brackets for the NCAA women’s basketball tournament were unveiled on Monday night.
Purdue is the highest seed among state schools, receiving the number-six seed in the Oklahoma City Regional. The Boilermakers face number-eleven seed Charlotte Saturday afternoon in Chattanooga. The Boilers were runners-up in the Big Ten Tournament and received an at-large bid while the forty-niners are champions of Conference USA.
Notre Dame will play host to first and second round games beginning on Sunday with the Fighting Irish receiving the number-seven seed in the Trenton Regional. They will face number-ten seed Minnesota in game two following the opener between 15th-seeded Evansville and number-two seed Texas A&M. The Purple Aces are the only sub-.500 team in the field, reaching the "big dance" with a 15-and-18 record following their shocking win in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
Ball State is in the tournament for the first time and will have its hands full. The twelfth-seeded Cardinals face eight-time national champion Tennessee on Sunday night at Bowling Green. In contrast to Ball State's debut, the Lady Vols are the only team to play in the NCAA tournament in all 28 years of its Existance. Tennessee is led by Pat Summitt, the winningest coach in NCAA history, and the Lady Vols have never failed to reach the sweet-16 in the tournament.
The Indiana Hoosiers and the Butler Bulldogs have accepted bids to the WNIT. The Hoosiers were hopeful that their 19-and-10 record would be good enough to get them into the NCAA tournament, but IU was passed over when the pairings were announced last night.
The Hoosiers received a first-round bye and will face the winner of Thursday's game between Oakland and Dayton on Sunday at Assembly Hall in Bloomington.
The Bulldogs open play on Thursday night and will face Duquense in Pittsburgh. Butler went 19-and-10 during the regular season before losing to Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the quarterfinals of the Horizon League Tournament.
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