Clemson Women’s Basketball Receives A Five Seed

March 11, 2001

CLEMSON, S.C. – The Clemson women’s basketball team has received a NCAA Tournament bid for the sixth straight year, the 13th time in the last 14 years.

The Lady Tigers are the fifth seed in the Mideast Region. Clemson will play 12th-seeded Tennessee-Chattanooga in the first round at the Cintas Center on Friday in Cincinnati, OH. Fourth-seeded Xavier and and 13th-seeded Louisville will meet in the second game. The two winners will meet Sunday in Cincinnati, OH. Game times will be announced Monday. The Mideast Regional is in Birmingham, AL.

Tennessee-Chattanooga has a 24-6 record overall and won the Southern Conference Championship. The Lady Mocs are led in scoring by Damita Bullock with a 14.2 ppg. average. Tishay Lewis leads the team in rebounding with a 6.2 rpg. mark. Former Clemson star, Laura Cottrell is an Assistant Coach at Tennessee-Chattanooga.

Xavier is making their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance after winning the Atlantic 10 Tournament in Philadelphia for the second year in a row. Jennifer Phillips was the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year and Tournament MVP this season. Taru Tuukkanen leads the team in scoring with a 19.7 ppg. average. Tuukkanen and Reetta Piipari both lead the team in rebounding with an 8.5 rpg. mark. Xavier is ranked 12th in the Associated Press poll and 11th in the USA Today poll.

Louisville has a 19-9 record overall. Marju Sober leads the team in scoring with a 14.4 ppg. average. Shamika Ingram leads the squad in rebounding with a 6.6 rpg. mark.

This is the 14th time the Lady Tigers have been to the NCAA Tournament since the NCAA first started the women’s tournament in 1982. Under Head Coach Jim Davis, this is the 13th time in his 14 years at Clemson that the Lady Tigers have participated in the NCAA Tournament. Since 1988, Clemson is tied for sixth for the most NCAA appearances with 13.

Also since 1988, Clemson Head Coach Jim Davis is tied for fourth among Head Coaches with the most NCAA Tournament Appearances.

Clemson is led in scoring by sophomore Chrissy Floyd. She is averaging 16. 9 ppg. Erin Batth is second on the team in scoring with a 12.3 ppg. average. She also leads the team in rebounding with an 8.6 rpg. Krystal Scott leads the team in assist with 111 or 3.83 assists per game. The Lady Tigers are ranked 23rd by the Associated Press and 19th by the USA Today poll.

Clemson has a 20-9 record overall this season. The Lady Tigers finished the ACC race in second place with a 10-6 record in league play.

In Clemson’s 13 previous NCAA Tournaments, the Lady Tigers have a 13-13 record. The Lady Tigers have been to been to the NCAA Final 16 four times (1989, 1990, 1991, 1999) and have been to the NCAA Final 8 once in 1991.

Clemson defeated Tennessee-Chattanooga 76-72 in the NCAA Tournament’s first round on March 18, 1992. The Lady Tigers also defeated Xavier 70-64 in the NCAA Tournament’s first round on March 17, 1993.

CLEMSON WILL PRACTICE AT 1:30 p.m. IN LITTLEJOHN COLISEUM MONDAY