For just the second time in league history, five Conference USA women’s basketball teams have received invitations to the NCAA Tournament. Regular season champion Charlotte and C-USA Tournament champion TCU are joined by Cincinnati, DePaul and Tulane in this year’s NCAA’s. It marks the first time since the 1996-97 season that the league has produced five NCAA teams in the same season and the five bids give the league an eight-year total of 30 NCAA teams.

Charlotte (21-6) will be making its first-ever NCAA appearance after winning the regular season Conference USA title with a 14-2 league record. The 49ers are the No. 12 seed in the Midwest Region and will face fifth-seeded Georgia in Athens, Ga., on Saturday. C-USA Coach of the Year Katie Meier has led Charlotte to its first NCAA Tournament in just her second season at the helm. The 49ers only other postseason appearance came in 1990, when they participated in the WNIT. Charlotte becomes the 10th different school to reach the NCAA Tournament in Conference USA’s first eight seasons.

Cincinnati will become the first Conference USA school to play on its home floor in the NCAA Tournament when the 10th-seeded Bearcats take on No. 7 seed Arkansas at Shoemaker Center on Sunday. This will be UC's fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament and the sixth-straight postseason bid overall. The Bearcats previously reached the NCAA's in 1989, 1999 and 2002. Last year, UC earned its first win in the tournament. Cincinnati is 23-7 this year and finished second in both the Conference USA regular season and tournament. The Bearcats went 4-4 this year against teams in the field.

DePaul will be making its eighth appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its first since 1997. The Blue Demons are the No. 9 seed in the Midwest Region and will face No. 8 seed Utah in the opening round on Sunday in Raleigh, N.C. With a 22-9 record, DePaul has posted its highest victory total since the 1989-90 season. Included were victories over nationally-ranked non-conference foes Notre Dame and George Washington.

TCU earned its third straight NCAA berth by winning the Conference USA Tournament in Memphis. The ninth-seeded Horned Frogs will be facing a Big Ten team in the opening round for the third straight year when they take on No. 8 seed Michigan State on Sunday in Storrs, Conn. Last season, TCU defeated Indiana in the first round after beating Penn State in 2001 for its first-ever NCAA victory.

Tulane will make its second consecutive trip to Palo Alto, Calif., as the Green Wave will face Minnesota in the first round at Stanford’s Maples Pavilion on Saturday. Last year, the Green Wave upset No. 7 seed Colorado State in the first round before falling to host Stanford in the Round of 32. Tulane, which has posted a record of 19-9, earned the No. 11 seed in the West Region and will face the No. 6 seeded Golden Gophers who are ranked 15th in the latest Associated Press poll and 18th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll. Tulane is one of just 11 teams to appear in the last nine NCAA Tournaments.

With five bids, Conference USA is surpassed only by the Big East (7), SEC (7) and Big Ten (6) in the total number of NCAA teams in this year’s field. The Big 12 also placed five teams in the tournament.


NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND PAIRINGS – Times TBD

Saturday, March 22
NCAA Midwest Region, Stegeman Coliseum, Athens, Ga.
(12) Charlotte vs. (5) Georgia

Saturday, March 22
NCAA West Region, Maples Pavilion, Palo Alto, Calif.
(11) Tulane vs. (6) Minnesota

Sunday, March 23
East Region, Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Conn.
(9) TCU vs. (8) Michigan State

Sunday, March 23
NCAA Midwest Region, Reynolds Coliseum, Raleigh, N.C.
(9) DePaul vs. (8) Utah

Sunday, March 23
West Region, Shoemaker Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
(10) Cincinnati vs. (7) Arkansas