March 11, 2001

BLACKSBURG, Va.. (3-11-01) -- The Virginia Tech Women's Basketball team received the bid Sunday it had been anticipating since the conclusion of the BIG EAST Conference Tournament. The Hokies were awarded a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Mideast Regional and will face No. 10 seed Denver in Lubbock, Tex. Texas Tech (23-6), the No. 2 seed will host 15th-seeded Pennsylvania (22-5) in the other first round matchup. The first round games will be played Friday, Mar. 16. The two winners will meet on Sunday, Mar. 18. Game times will be announced by the NCAA either late Sunday evening or on Monday morning. The second round winner will advance to the Mideast Regional semifinals Mar. 24 & 26 in Birmingham, Ala.

Denver (24-8) received an at-large bid after finishing second in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. The Pioneers were defeated in the championship game 67-55 by La. Tech. This will be the first meeting between Virginia Tech and Denver.

Tech (21-8) will be making its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance and third in the last four years. The Hokies made their first-ever appearance in the tournament in 1994 after winning the Metro Conference Championship. Tech lost at home in the first round 60-51 to Auburn. The Hokies returned to the NCAAs the following season where they eliminated St. Joseph's 62-52 in the first round in Storrs, Conn. Tech lost to eventual national champion Connecticut, 91-45, on the Huskies home floor.

After missing the tournament in 1996 and 1997, Bonnie Henrickson put the team back in the tournament in her first year as head coach. Tech traveled to Gainesville, Fla. and upset No. 23 Wisconsin 75-64 behind 28 points from Amy Wetzel. The Hokies were knocked out of the tournament by host and No. 12 Florida 89-57. Tech's last trip to the NCAAs was its sweetest as the Hokies advanced to the "Sweet 16s." Before a sellout crowd of 10,052 in Cassell Coliseum, Tech won its first round game against St. Peter's 73-48. The Hokies then defeated Auburn 76-61 before a crowd of 9,812. The sweet postseason run came to an end as Tech was eliminated in the NCAA East Regional semifinal at No. 2 Tennessee 68-52.

Last season, Tech missed the NCAA Tournament but advanced to the WNIT "Sweet Sixteen" with a first round home victory over Georgia State 80-58. Tech hosted Maryland in the second round but dropped a 68-60 decision to the Terrapins.

This year's squad posted a 11-5 record in its first year in the BIG EAST Conference and was seeded fourth at the recently completed BIG EAST Championship Tournament in Storrs, Conn. Tech defeated No. 24 Villanova 73-67 in the quarterfinals before dropping a 67-49 decision to No. 1 Notre Dame in the semifinals. Of Tech's eight losses, seven were to teams that are among the 64-team NCAA Tournament field.