Ball State University Athletics
Women's Basketball to Face Tennessee in NCAA First Round
March 16, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Ball State's women's basketball team, which won the Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship after winning the MAC West Division, earned a No. 12 seed for the NCAA Tournament First Round. The Cardinals will face the two-time defending national champions and fifth-seeded Tennessee Lady Volunteers.
The Cardinals will face Tennessee Sunday at Western Kentucky's E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Ky., at approximately 8 p.m. (CT)/9 p.m. (ET) on ESPN2.
Joining Ball State and Tennessee in the Berkeley Regional are fourth-seeded Iowa State, who will face 13th-seeded East Tennessee State at 6 p.m. (CT) on ESPN2. The Ball State vs. Tennessee game will begin 30 minutes after that contest.
The winner of the Ball State vs. Tennessee game will play the winner of the Iowa State vs. East Tennessee State contest Tuesday.
The Cardinals are led by first-year head coach Kelly Packard, while Tennessee is coached by the legendary Pat Summitt. Summitt is in her 35th season as Tennessee's head coach and is the all-time winningest coach (men or women) in NCAA basketball history. Summitt owns a 1,005-192 (.840) career coaching record, and has coached the Lady Vols to eight NCAA National Championships.
Ball State will take a 25-8 overall record into the game. The 25 wins set the school record for victories in a single season, while the Cardinals finished the conference with a 14-2 mark. Ball State will be making its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Tennessee, which has appeared in all 28 NCAA Tournaments and advanced to the Sweet 16 every time, owns a 22-10 overall mark. The Lady Vols finished 9-5 in the Southeastern Conference and were eliminated by Auburn, 78-58, in the SEC Tournament.
