Three PBC Women’s Basketball Teams Reach NCAA Tournament

INDIANAPOLIS, IND – Three Peach Belt Conference women’s basketball teams learned that their seasons are not yet done as the NCAA released the 64-team national championship tournament field from Indianapolis.  USC Aiken will host the eight-team southeast region for the first time in school history and are the #1 seed for the regional.  Defending national champions Clayton State are the #2 seed and Lander is the #4 seed.  The regional will begin on Friday, March 9, at the USCA Convocation Center in Aiken, S.C.

USC Aiken won the Peach Belt Tournament earlier on Sunday, knocking off Clayton State 52-47.  The Pacers (26-3) are making their fifth overall NCAA Tournament appearance and three of the last four.  The Pacers won their first-ever NCAA Tournament game in 2011 over Tusculum to advance to the round of 32.  The Pacers enter the 2012 tournament with a 10-game winning streak.  USC Aiken will face eighth-seeded Catawba in the first round of the regional.

Clayton State won the first women’s basketball national championship in Peach Belt Conference history and the first national championship in any sport at the school in 2011.  The Lakers fell to USCA in the PBC final on Sunday, but return to the NCAA Tournament for the eighth year in a row.  Clayton State (28-3) will meet seventh-seeded Tusculum in the first round.

Lander reached the round of 16 in both the 2010 and 2011 NCAA Regionals and are looking for their first Elite Eight appearance. The Bearcats return to the NCAAs for the fifth year in a row with a 21-7 record and will meet fifth-seeded Limestone, who won the Conference Carolinas tournament title on Sunday.

The regional will begin with four quarterfinal games on Friday with a pair of semifinals on Saturday, March 10. Game times have yet to be announced.  The regional championship game will be on Monday, March 12.  The winners from each of the eight regions will convene in San Antonio, Texas, at St. Mary’s University, March 20-23, for the Elite Eight.

2012 NCAA Women’s Basketball
Southeast Regional Tournament
Hosted by USC Aiken

Friday, March 9
#1 USC Aiken vs. #8 Catawba
#2 Clayton State vs. #7 Tusculum
#3 Wingate vs. #6 Barton
#4 Lander vs. #5 Limestone