GOIN' DANCIN': Lady Pirates to Face Big East Champ Rutgers

Eight days after clinching the program’s second NCAA Tournament appearance in 26 years, the East Carolina women’s basketball team found out its "Big Dance" destination and opponent on Monday night.

The Lady Pirates and their fans gathered in ECU’s Murphy Center to watch the selection show. As projected in ESPN.com’s Bracketology, East Carolina is a 13-seed and they will face 4th seeded Rutgers in their first round game. Unfortunately for the Pirate Nation, one part of their prediction did not become a reality. Rather than being placed in the Raleigh regional, ECU is being shipped to East Lansing, Michigan.

East Carolina head coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener, who is in her fifth season at the helm, led the Lady Pirates to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1982.

The Lady Pirates (19-13) and Scarlet Knights (22-8) will tip-off at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 18. The game, which will be played at Michigan State’s Breslin Center, will be televised on ESPN2/ESPNU.

Rutgers (15th-AP; 18th-ESPN/USA Today) has won 17 of its last 20 games and received the Big East’s automatic bid to the tournament after defeating No. 2 UCONN, 55-47, in the league’s tourney title game. Vivian Stringer’s club is extremely young, as it doesn’t have a senior on its roster.

Sharon Baldwin-Tener, who is in her fifth season at ECU, has also molded a young team nicely. After high hopes for this 2006-2007 campaign, the Lady Pirates limped to a disappointing 9-13 start. Since then, they have won ten straight to post the program’s second NCAA tourney appearance in its history.

The Scarlet Knights are making their 18th all-time appearance, which includes five in a row and nine of their last ten.

*An in-depth preview of the Lady Pirates and Rutgers will be released on Wednesday or Thursday.