The NCAA announced the brackets and seedings of its national women’s collegiate basketball tournament on Monday.
Hampton University was named a No. 12 seed and Prairie View A&M was named a No. 16 seed.
The Lady Pirates (28-4, 16-0 MEAC) not only managed to get through their conference schedule undefeated and win the MEAC conference tournament championship, but managed to build an impressive non-conference resume of wins over teams that include Southern Miss, UC Santa Barbara, Kansas State and Virginia Tech.
HU will face fifth-seeded Michigan State (22-9) on Sunday in Chapel Hill, N.C. at 12:30 p.m.
“We’re real happy [with a 12 seed]. We’re elated,” Hampton head coach David Six said. “I thought we were a 12, and it’s nice to see the NCAA did the right thing.”
The Lady Pirates are currently on an 18-game win streak, suffering their last lost against American University 58-46 on Dec. 4.
Lady Panthers To Face Top-Seeded Connecticut On Sunday Night http://t.co/3oVkr9sNlz
— PV Panther Athletics (@PVAthletics) March 18, 2014
Prairie View (14-17, 11-7 SWAC) got an automatic bid to the Big Dance by winning their fourth consecutive SWAC Tournament championship.
PV defeated Texas Southern in the SWAC Tournament final round 63-58 and will play No. 1 seed Connecticut (34-0) on Sunday at Gampel Pavillion in Stors, Conn. at 8 p.m.
“I’m very excited anytime you have an opportunity to go to the NCAA Tournament as it’s a rewarding experience,” said Prairie View head coach Dawn Brown. “My mindset going into Sunday’s game is to compete and survive as we’re going to study UCONN like we do any other team. I have a lot of respect for them as they’re undefeated but we’re going to go and compete while also having a good time.”