By Peter Koutroumpis
RALEIGH, N.C. – The 21st-ranked N.C. State Wolfpack (24-8) was selected as a 4-seed in the Kansas City Regional during the upcoming 2018 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, as announced Monday during the Tournament Selection Show on ESPN.
The Wolfpack will be hosting NCAA postseason play in Reynolds Coliseum for the first time since 2007, and will tip off against the 13th-seeded Elon Phoenix on Friday at 2:30 p.m.
The No. 5-seeded Maryland Terrapins will take on the No. 12-seeded Princeton Tigers at Noon on Friday and face the winner of N.C. State-Elon on Sunday.
Blue Devils dance down in Georgia
Up the road in Durham, the 20th-ranked Duke Blue Devils (22-8) were seeded fifth in the Albany Regional and will travel to face No. 12-seeded and 23rd-ranked Belmont (31-3) in the first round on Saturday at 11:00 a.m.
Hosted by the University of Georgia at Stegeman Coliseum, the other opening-round game will feature the No. 4-seeded Bulldogs taking on No. 13 seed Mercer at 1:30 p.m.
The winners of each contest will move on to second-round play on Monday.
“We are very excited,” Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said.
“It’s a special thing to be in a winner’s tournament like the NCAA Tournament. All the teams are super good … that’s a given … but what’s nice is we’re going back to Lexie’s [Brown] home state and Rebecca’s [Greenwell] family is close in Charlotte. Our fans have a chance to come to Athens to support our team. Many times they can send you to the West Coast or anywhere else, so we’re very excited and going to take it one day at a time as we prepare.”
Peter Koutroumpis: 401-323-8960, @pksport