March 17, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - After more than a week-long wait, the No. 8/8 Penn State Lady Lions (25-5, 14-2) will finally find out their NCAA Tournament fate Monday when the NCAA Women's Basketball Selection Special presented by Capital One airs from 7-8 p.m. on ESPN. There will also be extended coverage from 8-9 p.m. on ESPNU. Kevin Negandhi will host the Selection Monday Special along with analysts Kara Lawson, Carolyn Peck, Doris Burke and Rebecca Lobo.
Additionally, fans can watch the College Basketball Live: NCAA Women's Special on Tuesday, March 19 at 1 p.m. Beth Mowins and Cara Capuano will host the show along side analyst Debbie Antonelli, Maria Taylor and Brooke Weisbrod. Capuano will interview coaches and players from the 64-team bracket, while the analysts will breakdown the bracket and look at big-picture topics.
The Lady Lions are eighth in this week's Associated Press poll and USA Today Sports Coaches' Poll with a 25-5 record. Coquese Washington has led the Lady Lions to back-to-back Big Ten regular-season titles for the first time since 2002-03 and 2003-04. This season, Penn State posted a 14-2 mark in Big Ten play for a sixth consecutive record improvement in conference play under Washington. The Lady Lions are looking for their 24th berth into the NCAA Tournament and third consecutive bid. Junior guard Maggie Lucas (Narberth, Pa.) is the 2013 Big Ten Player of the Year after averaging 20.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game this season. Senior guard Alex Bentley (Indianapolis, Ind.) garnered her third-straight All-Big Ten first team honor as she accounts for 14.0 points, 3.5 assists and 3.6 steals per game. In addition, senior Nikki Greene (Diboll, Texas) was a third team All-Big Ten choice, while Dara Taylor (Wilmington, Del.) was recently named to the Big Ten All-Defensive team.
The NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament First and Second Round will take place March 23-26. The sites for the First and Second Round games are Baton Rouge, Boulder, College Park, Columbus, Durham, Iowa City, Knoxville, Louisville, Lubbock, Newark (Del.), Queens, Spokane, Stanford, Storrs and Waco.
ESPN networks will air all 63 games of the 2013 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship for the eighth consecutive year - beginning Saturday, March 23 and running through the NCAA National Championship game on Tuesday, April 9. ESPN and ESPN2 will present its telecasts in a whip-around format with home market protection through the first two rounds. ESPN3 will offer first and second round games in its entirety as a supplement to ESPN and ESPN2's coverage. ESPN FULL COURT, the pay-per-view package, will offer first and second round games in its entirety as a supplement to ESPN and ESPN2's coverage. The final 15 games, beginning with the Regional Semifinals, will have national telecast windows on ESPN or ESPN2.
The Lady Lions are on Twitter. Follow sports information contact Kris Petersen (@ladylionsid) and the Lady Lions and coaches (@pennstatewbb) to get the inside scoop. The Lady Lions are also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pennstateladylions.