March Madness Sends Cougs To Iowa

PROVO -- After winning the MWC Women's Basketball Championship crown, BYU's women's basketball team starts March Madness in Iowa against Florida, Mar.16. The Cougars are making their fifth appearance as one of 64 teams in the 2002 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championships.

BYU was the automatic qualifier from the Mountain West Conference after defeating UNLV in the league championship in Las Vegas Saturday.

The Cougars (22-8), the no. 11 seed in the Midwest Sub Regional, hosted by Iowa State will face the University of Florida (18-10), the no. 6 in the early game on Sat. Mar. 16. Hosts Iowa State (23-8) and the no. 3 seed in the region will battle Temple (20-10), the no. 14 seed in the second game.

"We're excited for the opportunity to play in the NCAA tournament," said head coach Jeff Judkins. "We feel every team in our bracket is very good and we should match up well with each one, as long as we can play our best basketball."

The NCAA selected three other MWC teams to the national tournament. UNLV, New Mexico and regular season champions CSU will also participate.

BYU's last trip to the NCAA Tournament came in 1999-2000 when they lost in the first round to Oklahoma 86-81. The Cougars enter the tournament on a six-game win streak, its best since taking a nine-game win streak into the 1983-84 NCAA Tournament.