MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The University of North Dakota women's basketball program will make its first Division I postseason appearance as the eighth-seeded Fighting Sioux take on top-seeded Seattle U, Thursday at 9 p.m. CT at the Connolly Center (1,050) in the West Region first round of the 2012 Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) presented by Sports Tours International.
"This is historic moment for our women's basketball program as it prepares to compete in its first Division I postseason tournament," athletics director Brian Faison said. "We are extremely proud of the job that coach Roebuck, his staff and his student-athletes have done this year both in winning both the Great West regular-season title and the Great West tournament championship. This team has definitely earned the rights for postseason play."
This marks the first postseason appearance for North Dakota since the 2008 NCAA DII North Central Regional, and the 21st appearance under the direction of Roebuck. While playing at the DII level, Gene Roebuck guided the Sioux to 19-consecutive postseason appearances from 1990-2008, including back-to-back-to-back national title wins in 1997, 1998 and 1999.
"We are happy that we have the opportunity to keep playing," Roebuck said. "Seattle is a common opponent and we are excited about playing them on Thursday. We'll do some research over the next few days and see what they've been doing this year. We have played them before, so that will make things a little bit easier."
The Sioux (21-10), who won both the Great West Conference regular-season and GWC Tournament title, head into the matchup riding a 12-game winning streak. UND lost the GWC opener to Utah Valley (58-54), but then swept the league the rest of the way to tally a 9-1 conference mark. At last week's Great West Conference Tournament, the top-seeded Sioux defeated Texas-Pan American 88-48 in the semifinals and then surged past the Wolverines in the championship game, 69-56.
The Redhawks finished the 2011-12 regular season with an 18-11 overall record, including victories over 2012 NCAA Tournament participants UC Santa Barbara and Eastern Michigan. Seattle U is 12-5 at home this season, winning 10 of its last 12 home contests including the Washington Dental Service Holiday Hoops Tournament.
Seattle U last competed in postseason play in the 2002 NAIA Division II West Independent Regional in Nampa, Idaho, defeating Briar Cliff (77-68) before losing to Northwest Nazarene (83-60). The Seattle U women's basketball program has also competed in the 1978 NCWSA playoffs, the AIAW playoffs each year from 1979 to 1981, and the NAIA District I playoffs nine times between 1983 and 1994.
North Dakota leads the all-time series against Seattle 5-1, and is 2-1 when playing in the Emerald City. In the first courtside meeting between the Fighting Sioux and the Redhawks on Dec. 29, 2006, the Sioux came away with a 74-65 win on the road. After a three-year hiatus, the teams met again, this time with Seattle U winning by a very close, 75-74 margin (Feb. 7, 2009). UND answered with three-straight wins at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center, including a 93-71 victory on March 8, 2009 to win the UND Spring Thaw Tournament. In their last meeting on Feb. 16, 2010, the Sioux took yet another home victory away from the Redhawks, winning 66-42.
Tickets for Thursday's game will be available at the Ed and John O'Brien Center for Athletic Administration on 1218 East Cherry Street, less than one block from campus, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. They will also be available for purchase online through Ticketmaster and at the front entrance to the Connolly Center Thursday night beginning at 5:30 p.m. Limited reserved seats are available for $12 apiece, general admission seats cost $8 each, and youth and senior citizen tickets go for $5 apiece.
Live stats and live audio will be available for free on both www.FightingSioux.com and www.GoSeattleU.com, with live video also available for a small fee on the Seattle U athletics website.
Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI)
The Women's Basketball Invitational, presented by Sports Tours International, provides a choice for postseason worthy Division I women's teams who wish to continue their season, but who do not qualify for the NCAA tournament. The 16-team event will take place over two weeks with all games being played on campus sites. The first-round matchups will take place on March 14-15 with second round (March 17-18) and third round to follow (March 21-22). The WBI champion will be decided on either March 24 or 25.
Tournament format
A 16-team, single-elimination tournament is divided into two regions with eight seeded teams representing each region. It is a transparent and a true tournament format, just like the NCAA.
Sports Tours International
The first sport tour company to take teams on international tours, Sports Tours International has been running women's tournaments since 1987 in Nassau, San Juan, Daytona Beach and Las Vegas.
- Go Sioux -
