Stanford, Tennessee and Nebraska earn No. 1 seeds in women’s basketball tournament

Stanford, Tennessee and Nebraska earn No. 1 seeds

Stanford, the last team to beat Connecticut, has earned its first No. 1 seed since 1998 in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.

Undefeated Connecticut is expected to earn the No. 1 overall seed. UConn (33-0), which has won an NCAA record 72 straight games, will try to complete the sixth perfect season in women’s basketball history as it goes for a seventh national championship.

UConn is looking to become the fifth team to win consecutive titles. Tennessee did it last in 2007 and 2008. The Huskies have run through their opponents this season winning by an average of 35 points.

The Cardinal (31-1) beat the Huskies in the semifinals of the 2008 NCAA tournament and will open this year’s tournament hosting UC Riverside in the Sacramento region.

Tennessee earned its record 20th No. 1 seed a year after getting bounced from the tournament in the first round. The Lady Vols are the top seed in the Memphis region. And Nebraska earned its first No. 1 seed in school history after winning its first 30 games this season. The Cornhuskers lost their only game of the season in the Big 12 tournament semifinals.

The Lady Vols, who were a No. 5 seed last season, lost in the first round to Ball State. It was the first time in the program’s history that Tennessee didn’t advance out of the opening weekend.

Tennessee will open up at home against Austin Peay. The Lady Govs (15-17) are the eighth team in NCAA history to make the tournament with a losing record. They upset Eastern Illinois to win the Ohio Valley tournament.

Dayton will play TCU in the other game in Knoxville. Fifth-seeded Georgetown plays MAAC conference champion Marist, and No. 4 Baylor will face Fresno State in Berkeley.

West Virginia, the runner-up in the Big East tournament, earned a No. 3 seed and will play Southland champion Lamar.

ACC champion Duke earned a No. 2 seed and will host the first two rounds. The Blue Devils will play Mid-Eastern champion Hampton in the opener. LSU meets Hartford in the other game at Cameron.

Other first-round games in the Memphis region are: No. 6 Texas vs. No. 11 San Diego State; No. 7 LSU vs. No. 10 Hartford.

Baylor freshman Brittney Griner will get her first taste of the NCAA tournament as the Lady Bears earned a No. 4 seed and will play Fresno State in the first round. Griner, who drew national attention coming into college as a dunking phenom, made headlines on March 3 after throwing a punch in a game against Texas Tech. She was suspended for two games by the school for her actions.

Other games on that side of the bracket include No. 5 Georgetown vs. No. 12 Marist and No. 8 Dayton vs. No. 9 TCU.

Nebraska will open against Northern Illinois in the Kansas City region. UCLA and North Carolina State will face off in the eight-nine game. Other first-round matchups in the region include No. 5 Michigan State against Mid-American champion Bowling Green. No. 4 Kentucky will face Big South champion Liberty. In the other half of the region, sixth-seed Georgia Tech faces Arkansas-Little Rock, which is making its first tournament appearance. No. 3 Oklahoma faces South Dakota State.

Second-seed Notre Dame will host Cleveland State in its opener. Wisconsin plays America East winner Vermont in the other matchup.

Other first-round games in the Sacramento region are: No. 8 Iowa vs. No. 9 Rutgers; No. 5 Georgia vs. No. 12 Tulane; No. 4 Oklahoma State vs. No. 13 Chattanooga; No. 6 Vanderbilt vs. No. 11 DePaul; No. 3 Xavier vs. No. 14 East Tennessee State; No. 7 Gonzaga vs. No. 10 North Carolina; and No. 2 Texas A&M vs. No. 15 Portland State.