March 16, 2003

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- 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 East Regional and will face No. 10 seed Georgia Tech in West Lafayette, Ind. Purdue (26-5), the No. 2 seed will host 15th-seeded Valparaiso (18-12) in the other first round matchup. The first round games will be played Saturday, Mar. 22. The two winners will meet on Monday, Mar. 24. Game times will be announced by the NCAA either late Sunday evening or on Monday morning. The second round winner will advance to the East Regional semifinals Mar. 30 & Apr. 1 in Dayton, Ohio.

Georgia Tech (20-10) received an at-large bid after advancing to the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. The Yellow Jackets were defeated in the semifinals 76-52 by Duke. This will be the first meeting between Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech.

Tech (21-9) will be making its' sixth NCAA Tournament appearance and fourth in the last six years under head coach Bonnie Henrickson. 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 next 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 by No. 2 Tennessee 68-52.

The Hokies' last NCAA appearance was in the 2001 event following a semifinal appearance in their initial BIG EAST Conference tournament where they lost to eventual national champion Notre Dame. Tech traveled to Lubbock, Tex. to participate in the Mideast regional where they defeated Denver 77-57 in the first round. In the second round, Tech faced Texas Tech on the Lady Raiders' home floor in front of 12,161. The Hokies played a great first half and took a 25-18 lead into the locker room, however the Lady Raiders exploded in the second half, shooting 63.0 percent and scoring 55 points to defeat Tech 73-52.

Last season, Tech missed the NCAA Tournament but advanced to the WNIT semifinals with home victories over UNC Greensboro, George Washington and Vermont before losing at home to Houston 77-72 in overtime.

This year's squad posted a 10-6 record in the BIG EAST and was seeded fifth at the recently completed BIG EAST Championship Tournament in Piscataway, N.J.. Tech defeated West Virginia 66-60 in the first round before upsetting No. 23 Boston College 74-70 in overtime in the quarterfinals. The Hokies were eliminated from the tournament with a 71-54 loss to No. 1 Connecticut the semifinals. Of Tech's nine losses this season, eight were to teams that are among the 64-team NCAA Tournament field.