Georgia teams had to feel like winners after the women’s NCAA tournament pairings were released on Monday night: Neither Georgia nor Georgia Tech landed in the Connecticut and Maya Moore bracket.
The Georgia Tech women drew the higher tournament seed — fifth compared to Georgia’s sixth — but the Lady Dogs landed a Southern site — three hours away in Auburn, Ala.
The Yellow Jackets (23-10) will get started first on Saturday morning, facing 12th-seeded Bowling Green (28-4) at 11:20 a.m. in Columbus, Ohio, with both teams turning up in the Dallas region.
However, UGA found itself in the middle of the most emotional postseason entanglement, opening with Middle Tennessee State, which is still mourning the death of junior guard Tina Stewart, who was fatally stabbed on March 2, allegedly by her college roommate.
The Lady Dogs and the 11th-seeded Blue Raiders (23-7) meet Sunday at 7:45 p.m. in the Dayton region. UGA holds an 11-1 advantage over the Sun Belt team.
MTSU has played just once since Stewart’s death, losing 77-62 to Arkansas State in its conference tournament. Stewart, a 14-game starter, was from Memphis.
UGA will be competing in its 28th NCAA Tournament— the second most of any team in the country — and will be making its 17th consecutive appearance.
“It doesn’t get old,” Lady Dogs coach Andy Landers said. “I was thinking about it this morning. We’ve been very fortunate through the years to have the players and teams that have allowed us to play in the NCAAs so many times. I think it’s something that you appreciate more and more. I know I do.”
Tech, which beat Middle Tennessee State 68-46 in December, now must contend with a MAC team that has won 11 consecutive games and has started the same five players for 32 games. Three of the Falcons’ losses were by a point each time. They haven’t lost since Jan. 29, when they were beaten 66-55 at Western Michigan.
Elsewhere, Connecticut’s path to a third straight national championship could include a renewal of the most heated rivalry in women’s college basketball against Tennessee. The Huskies (32-1) earned the No. 1 overall seed and head up the Philadelphia region.
For coach Geno Auriemma to match Tennessee’s Pat Summitt with an eighth national championship, he might have to go through her Lady Vols (31-2), who earned the top seed in the Dayton region. If both come through their regions, UConn and Tennessee could meet again in the national semifinals at Indianapolis.
Auriemma’s Huskies, led by Moore, the former Collins Hill High School star, didn’t have to face Tennessee during its record 90-game winning streak that was ended by Stanford on Dec. 30. The two teams broke off their annual matchup in 2007 in a testy split.
First up for UConn is former star Jen Rizzotti and her Hartford Hawks, who won the America East title. The two teams have played each other over the past six years but didn’t meet this season. Hartford is winless in 11 meetings against UConn.
Baylor (31-2) and Stanford (31-2) were the other two No. 1 seeds. It was the second straight No. 1 seed for the Cardinal, who fell to UConn in the title game last season.
The Huskies will be trying for their third consecutive title, matching their 2002-2004 run and Tennessee’s 1996-1998 run. UConn is one of a record nine Big East teams in the field.
Unlike the men’s bracket that expanded to 68 teams this year, the women decided to stick with 64. Indianapolis will host the Final Four on April 3 and 5.
The last time the Final Four was in Indianapolis, Baylor won as a No. 2 seed.
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