ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 11, 1996 TAG: 9603110072
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
Radford, which has received few favors from the NCAA women's basketball committee, will continue its tour of the nation's elite programs.
The Highlanders, who will be making their third straight NCAA appearance, will visit top-seeded Tennessee (26-4) at 1 p.m. Saturday in the first round of the East Regional.
Virginia, which serves as host for the regional semifinals and final, was seeded third in the East and will meet Metro Atlantic Athletic Association champion Manhattan (19-10) at 8 p.m. Friday at University Hall.
``I was very, very pleased to get a third seed,'' said UVa coach Debbie Ryan, whose Cavaliers were eliminated from the ACC tournament when they fell to Clemson for the third time. ``I didn't know whether we had played our way out of that or not, but strength of schedule helped.''
It will be the 12th consecutive NCAA appearance for the Cavaliers, who also were a regional host in 1992, when they made the third of three straight trips to the women's Final Four. UVa (23-6) had won 61 consecutive games at University Hall before Clemson ended the streak this season.
Tickets for the first- and second-round games are $5 for adults and $3 for youth and can be purchased, along with remaining East Regional tickets, at the ticket office at University Hall or by calling 1-800-542-8821.
Ryan said she was not familiar with Manhattan, which is making its third NCAA appearance and first since 1990. The Jaspers, who received an automatic bid after winning the MAAC championship, lost to ACC teams in their first two NCAA trips.
``I don't know anything about them,'' Ryan said, ``but I know we have a lot of tape of them. We're very familiar with the bracket as a whole. We're somewhat glad to see teams that we've been watching all season.''
Old Dominion (27-2) was seeded second in the East and could face Virginia in the regional semifinals if both teams get that far. The Cavaliers and Lady Monarchs have not played since the 1990-91 season.
Radford (17-11) never has played the Lady Volunteers, who received an NCAA bid for the 15th year in a row, all under coach Pat Head Summitt. Tennessee won three Division I championships between 1987-91 and reached the finals on two other occasions, including last year.
``It's a once-in-a-lifetime trip ... for the third straight year,'' said Radford coach Lubomyr Lichonczak, whose Highlanders lost to Purdue (103-56) and Florida (89-49) in first-round games the past two years.
``What can you say about that [Tennessee] program? They've been to I-don't-know-how-many Final Fours. They're big, physical. They're no mystery. Anyone who's followed women's basketball knows about Tennessee.''
It will be Lichonczak's seventh trip to the NCAA Tournament, including his stints as an assistant at Ohio State and Old Dominion. The Highlanders have won all seven Big South tournaments, although the conference did not receive an automatic bid until 1994.
``Even though it's our third trip, we've got new kids who've never done this before,'' Lichonczak said. ``We've got six freshmen. It's always difficult for freshmen to step on the floor for an NCAA Tournament game and be prepared for the intensity and physical nature of the game.''
James Madison (21-8) made it back into the tournament for the first time since 1991, getting the 13th seed in the Mideast region. The Dukes will play Duke, the No.4 seed in the region, in Durham, N.C., in the first round.
James Madison lost to Old Dominion in the Colonial Athletic Association championship game.
There were no surprises among the No.1 seeds. Along with Tennessee, the other top seeds went to Connecticut (30-3) in the Mideast, Louisiana Tech (28-1) in the Midwest and Stanford (25-2) in the West.
Connecticut, the defending national champion, was moved out of the East and sent to the Mideast. That was to head off a rematch with Virginia, the team the Huskies beat in the regional finals last year.
``Virginia had to stay in the East, so we moved Connecticut,'' said Linda Bruno, who heads the selection committee.
That was fine with Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma, a former assistant to Ryan. Connecticut is in a regional with No.2 seed Iowa, No.3 Vanderbilt and Duke.
``Wherever they felt like they needed to send us,'' Auriemma said. ``Being in the Mideast is fine with us. Don't worry about us. We'll be there.''
There also won't be a Tennessee-Connecticut rematch in the national championship game. That's because the East and Mideast winners meet in the national semifinals.
The top four seeds in each region are the host schools for subregionals of four teams each. The subregionals will be played Friday and Sunday or Saturday and Monday.
The SEC landed seven teams in the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row: Tennessee, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and Auburn. The Big Ten was next with six teams: Iowa, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Ohio State and Michigan State.
The ACC, Conference USA, Big Eight and Southwest Conference each got four teams into the tournament.
(Staff writer Ralph Berrier Jr. and The Associated Press contributed some of the information for this story.)
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Ryan.by CNB