Erin Helton got her wish. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga freshman wanted to go to Tempe, Ariz., for the first round of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, and that’s where the Lady Mocs are headed.
Just a few minutes into ESPN’s selection show, UTC’s name was announced, drawing a big roar from the crowd at the viewing party at Big River Grille downtown.
The Lady Mocs (24-8), who earned an automatic bid by winning the Southern Conference tournament last Monday, are the 13 seed in the Sacramento Region and will face 4 seed Oklahoma State on Saturday night at Arizona State’s Wells Fargo Arena.
“I was very excited,” Helton said. “Arizona’s beautiful, the Grand Canyon’s out there and it was definitely where I wanted to go.”
The Lady Mocs have never played Oklahoma State (23-10), but this will be UTC’s third straight NCAA tournament game against a Big 12 school. In 2006, UTC lost by 13 to Baylor, and the Lady Mocs lost by 10 to Kansas State in 2007.
Coach Wes Moore said he didn’t know too much about the Cowgirls, but he said he already had one game tape of Oklahoma State from this season and planned to spend much of Monday night studying it.
“From what I know, they’re very, very athletic, so that’s going to be a big challenge for us,” Moore said. “I do like the fact that we’re at least on a neutral court.”
While Moore is studying the tape, senior and two-time SoCon player of the year Shanara Hollinquest said she planned to spend Monday night online trying to learn as much about the Cowgirls as she could.
“I know the coaches will be hard at work, but I like to do my research, too,” Hollinquest said.
The Cowgirls, ranked No. 20 in the final regular-season AP poll, finished tied for seventh in the Big 12 and reached the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament. Oklahoma State will be a much different team in the first round of the NCAA tournament, however.
Leading scorer Andrea Riley, who leads the Big 12 in scoring with 26.6 points per game, will serve a one-game suspension in the first round. The suspension, handed down by the NCAA, dates back to her throwing a punch at an LSU player during the 2008 NCAA tournament. The Cowgirls didn’t make the tournament last season, so this will be Riley’s first chance to serve the suspension.
The Lady Mocs are one of six teams from Tennessee in the field of 64, joining the Tennessee Lady Vols, Vanderbilt, Middle Tennessee State, East Tennessee State and Austin Peay. As it turned out, UTC’s first four games this season were against teams that made the tournament: ETSU, Austin Peay, Georgia and Kentucky. The Lady Mocs’ lone win against the quartet was a 76-66 victory at Austin Peay.
If the Lady Mocs upset the Cowgirls, they will face either Georgia or Tulane in the second round.