NCAA Bracket | Photo Gallery
DAYTON, Ohio - The University of Dayton Kennedy Union exploded with cheers and silly string when the Flyer women's basketball learned it earned the program’s first-ever trip to the NCAA Division I Tournament.
UD is in the upper half of the Memphis Regional, the third bracket announced during the ESPN Selection Special Monday night. It's the Flyers' third consecutive postseason appearance.
“I’d really like to thank our coaches and administration for believing in this team,” said UD Head Coach Jim Jabir. “It’s amazing when a group of people come together for a common goal.”
The Flyers, 24-7 overall, enter the NCAA Tournament as a No. 8 seed and will play No. 9-seeded TCU, 22-8 overall, on Saturday, March 20 in Knoxville, Tenn. The game, which will be broadcast on ESPN2, is slated for a 2:30 p.m. ET tip-off, 30 minutes following the No. 1 seed Tennessee/No. 16 Austin Peay contest.
“Our focus is on TCU now. They are a strong, athletic team. They have some skill players,” said Jabir. “We are going to get a plan of attack together and play like we have all year, with all our hearts.
“I want our kids to enjoy every moment,” added Jabir. “Everything we do from here on out I want it to be memorable. I know we’ll play hard, but I also want them to enjoy every second, because these are memories that you remember for a very long time.”
Dayton is one of five teams making a first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Princeton, Portland State, Arkansas-Little Rock and UNI are the others. TCU is making its ninth appearance, and second consecutive. This will be the first meeting between the Horned Frogs and Flyers.
“This is what we have been working for,” said sophomore Justine Raterman, UD’s leading scorer. “We all came here with a purpose and we accomplished this as a team and with a lot of hard work and a lot of heart.”
UD has been making history all season. The Flyers started the year by defeating its first Top 10 team in program history, a 77-74 win over No. 10 Michigan State (current RPI of 16). The Flyers won the BTI Classic with wins over the host Purdue(ranked No. 23 at the time), Georgetown (current RPI of 17) and Seattle.
UD won the most Atlantic 10 games in Flyer program history, going 11-3 in the league. The second-place finish was also the best for Dayton.
This season Dayton also entered the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls for the first time, peaking as high as No. 20. They received votes in at least one of the polls for 19 consecutive weeks.
This marks UD's first trip to the D-I NCAA Tournament, but the Flyers were NCAA Division II semifinalists in 1983-84, the season before the Flyers began D-I in 1984-85.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL - NCAA Ticket Information
Fans can call the Flyer Women's Basketball Office at (937) 229-4447 beginning Tuesday, March 16 through Wednesday, March 17, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET each day.
Fans can apply to receive up to four tickets at one of 16 NCAA First and Second round sites. A list will be created for requests at each site. All tickets will be available for pickup at Will Call from the site.
Patrons will be informed if they did or did not receive tickets. Fans that are not allocated tickets from the University of Dayton allotment will be able to contact the host site for ticket availability.
