AuburnSports.com - Auburn women earn No. 2 seed

March 16, 2009

Staff Reports

For the 18th time in school history, the No. 8 Auburn women's basketball team will go dancing in March as the Tigers were awarded an at-large bid to the 2009 NCAA Tournament.

Auburn (29-3), the No. 2 seed in the Oklahoma City Regional, will take on Patriot League Tournament champion Lehigh (26-6) in the first round of the tournament.

The game will take place at the Louis Brown Athletic Center, on the campus of Rutgers University. Auburn and Lehigh will square off in the early game on Saturday, March 21 with an 11 a.m. tipoff. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

The winner of the Auburn-Lehigh game will face the winner of No. 7 seed Rutgers (19-12) and No. 10 seed Virginia Commonwealth (26-6).

"It is a tough region, but every region is tough," said Auburn head coach Nell Fortner. "There is not an easy game, there is not an easy draw in the NCAA tournament and that is why it is so tough to win a NCAA Championship.

"You have to go out and play hard every time you get on the floor no matter where you are, so I'm looking forward to getting back to practice tomorrow and knowing who we are playing and knowing where we are going. It will make a big difference in what we do the next three days."

Auburn made its first NCAA Tournament since 2004 last season, falling to George Washington in the first round as a No. 11 seed. The nine-spot improvement is the most ever for an Auburn team from one year to the next.

"To be the No. 2 seed, that's awesome coming from the No. 11 seed last year," said SEC Player of the Year DeWanna Bonner. "We are just excited and ready to go to New Jersey."

Having the NCAA Tournament experience from last season, Bonner is optimistic it will help the team this year.

"I think we have the advantage now," said Bonner. "You kind of have the little jitters the first time you get to the NCAA Tournament, and now it's not jitters. Everything is just flowing right now, you are just ready to get out there and play."

Bonner led Auburn to a SEC regular-season title, averaging 21.0 points per game and 8.5 rebounds per game, becoming the first Auburn player ever to lead the SEC in scoring. She led a pack of four Tigers in double-digit scoring that included Sherell Hobbs (12.3), Alli Smalley (11.4) and Whitney Boddie (11.3).

Boddie, a candidate for the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Award, also leads the nation in assists per game with 8.1.

The No. 2 seed is the highest for Auburn since 1990 when it was a No. 2 seed at the Mideast Regional, opening with Tennessee Tech in Auburn, Ala. It is the only other time in school history for AU to play as the No. 2 seed in a region and the first since the NCAA went to a 64-team field in 1994.

At the 1990 NCAA Tournament, the Tigers downed Tennessee Tech, Vanderbilt, Washington and Louisiana Tech before falling to Stanford in the national championship game.

The Tigers have a 28-17 overall record in 17 appearances in the NCAA Tournament and are 4-1 when playing as the No. 2 seed.

Auburn has never faced Lehigh, Rutgers or Virginia Commonwealth in the NCAA Tournament, but has seen Rutgers and VCU once each in the regular season. Auburn defeated Rutgers, 61-48, on Jan. 5, 1985 in the Miami Women's Court Classic. The Tigers defeated VCU, 54-53, on Dec. 6, 1992 in Richmond, Va.

Tickets for the 2009 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship First/Second Round Games at the Louis Brown Athletic Center are on sale. There will be two opening-round games on Saturday, March 21 and one second round contest on Monday, March 23. Saturday's first round doubleheader will begin at noon, while Monday's second round game is at 7:00 p.m.

The Rutgers Department of Intercollegiate Athletics has three ticket packages available for the event. An Adult All-Session package allows access to all three games of the tournament for $40.00, while a Student All-Session package is available to anyone 18 years of age or younger and college students for $15.00. A "Family Four Pack" that includes four tickets to the first round doubleheader Session I on March 21 and four hot dogs and four sodas is available for $60.00.

Tickets are available through the Rutgers Division of Intercollegiate Athletics ticket office by calling 1-866 445-GORU (4678) or through the department's official athletic website www.scarletknights.com.

FEATURED PRODUCT