March 13, 2005

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The 64-team NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship field was announced Sunday, pairing 13th-seeded UC Santa Barbara against No. 5 Notre Dame in a first round Tempe Regional game that will take place on Saturday, March 19 in Fresno, Calif. The Gaucho-Fighting Irish battle will tip-off at approxomately 1:30 p.m.

"I'm delighted that we get to play close to home," UCSB head coach Mark French said. "They say that Notre Dame travels well, but I'm happy that many of our great fans will have the opportunity to see us play as well."

Fifth-seeded Arizona State will face No. 12 Eastern Kentucky in the other regional first round game Saturday at 11:00 a.m. in Fresno State's Save Mart Center, with the winners meeting on Monday, March 21 at either 6:00 or 8:30 p.m. with a berth in the NCAA Sweet 16 at stake; the exact second round start time will be determined Sunday. Meanwhile, the Regional Semifinals will be held in Tempe, Ariz., on March 26.

Under a new tournament format this year, eight teams will play their first and second round games at eight different sites around the country, although not necessarily all within the same region. Saturday's other two opening-round contests in Fresno - but within the Kansas City Regional - will be Stanford against Santa Clara and Iowa State vs. Utah.

The Gauchos currently own a 21-8 overall record and earned their ninth consecutive automatic bid into the NCAA tourney by rallying for a 74-66 victory over Idaho on Saturday in the championship game of the Big West Conference Tournament in Anaheim, Calif. UCSB - currently riding a season-long 10 game winning streak - has posted a 7-10 record in 10 previous Big Dance appearances, including the program's first-ever Sweet 16 berth in 2004. Santa Barbara is 0-1 as a No. 13 seed in the NCAA's, also earning that position in 1997.

Notre Dame (26-5) is an at-large selection out of the Big East Conference, most recently losing to Connecticut 67-54 in the semifinals of its league tournament on March 7. The Fighting Irish - currently ranked 13th in the latest USA Today/ESPN Top-25 Coaches' Poll - won their only previous meeting with UCSB, an 86-75 decision in Santa Barbara on Nov. 28, 1997. The two schools have no common opponents this season.

"I know that Notre Dame plays a lot of zone defense, and that will be quite a challenge for us since we haven't faced much zone all year," French stated. "It will be an opportunity for our perimeter shooters to step up."

Meanwhile Pacific-10 Conference Tournament runner-up Arizona State enters the Big Dance with a 22-9 overall mark and No. 24 national ranking. The Gauchos are 5-2 all-time against ASU, last defeating the Sun Devils 76-66 on their home floor on Dec. 3, 2000. UCSB has never squared off with Eastern Kentucky (23-7), an automatic qualifier for the Big Dance by winning the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

All of UCSB's NCAA Tournament contests will be broadcast live on both KIST 1340AM and KCSB 91.9 FM, as well as at www.kcsb.org. In addition, ESPN and ESPN2 will televise all 63 games of the Big Dance live; UCSB vs. Notre Dame and Monday's second round game will both air on ESPN2.

Ticket prices for Saturday's first round have been set at $25, which includes admission to both UCSB-Notre Dame and Arizona State-Eastern Kentucky. Tickets will be available beginning Tuesday, March 15 at 9:00 a.m. by calling UCSB Athletic Ticket Office at (805) 893-UCSB.