Bronco women play at Stanford in NCAA Tournament
March 16, 2003
KALAMAZOO -- The Western Michigan University women's basketball team will face Stanford University in the opening round of the 2003 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.
WMU (20-11), seeded 14th in the NCAA Tournament West Division, will face the third-seeded Cardinal (26-4) on Stanford's home court Saturday, March 22. The winner of that game will take on either sixth-seeded Minnesota (23-5) or 11th seeded Tulane (19-9).
Saturday's contest between Stanford and WMU will be carried live on ESPN2 television and begins at approximately 8:30 p.m. Pacific Time (11:30 p.m. ET), or 30 minutes following the conclusion of the preceding game between Minnesota and Tulane.
"I'm pleased with our draw," said head coach Ron Stewart. "I think it shows how our league has improved, because I thought there was a chance we could go down to a 15 seed."
WMU's only other meeting with the Cardinal came in Western Michigan's 1999-2000 Mid-American Conference West Division Championship season. Current Bronco starters Curleta Harris and Kristin Koetsier were freshmen on that Bronco team. In that contest, Stanford earned an 80-66 win, but had to rally for the victory. Western Michigan held a two-point lead at the half of that contest.
This will be the second NCAA Tournament appearance for the Broncos, who last went to the event in 1985, losing to Texas, 84-62, in the opening round. WMU has now been a part of post-season play in three of the past five seasons, as the Broncos appeared in the WNIT postseason tournament in both 1999 and 2000.
Western Michigan is coming off a MAC Tournament championship, defeating Ball State, 81-76, in the Championship Game Saturday, March 15, at Cleveland's Gund Arena. The Broncos have won six straight games.
Media contact: Travis McCurdy, 269 387-4138, travis.mccurdy@wmich.edu