Women's Basketball Face St. John In First Round Of NCAA Tournament
The Pac-12 Champions USC women's basketball team is headed to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2006. The Women of Troy will face the No. 8 seeded St. John on Saturday, March 22.
The Women of Troy enter the Big Dance as the No. 9 seed, and make their 16th overall trip to the tournament riding a six-game winning streak. USC will have a shot of squaring off against No. 1 Tennessee (27-5) or No. 16 Northwestern State (21-12) in the second round.
Head coach Cynthia Cooper is all too familiar with the tournament having won two national championships during her career at USC. USC is 29-13 in the NCAA Tournament and has won back-to-back titles in 1983 and 1984.
USC is coming off a historic Pac-12 championship run where they won four games in four days. The victory clinched the Pac-12 title and a berth to the NCAA Tournament.
During their run, USC defeated three other NCAA-bound teams. The Women of Troy have played nine teams that are headed to the Big Dance, and have posted a 6-9 record against them this season.
Following their impressive run for the Pac-12 title, USC comes in at No. 25 in the AP Poll. The last time the Trojans were ranked was on Nov. 11, 2011 (No. 23).
In their last run for the NCAA title in 2006 USC weighed in as the No. 8 seed. They managed to beat South Florida 67-65 in the first round, but fell to No. 1 seed Duke in the Second Round 85-51.
