Women's Basketball Earns Second-Straight NCAA Tournament Bid

March 15, 2010

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Head Coach Suzy Merchant
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EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State women's basketball team was selected to the NCAA Tournament for the 10th time in program history, receiving a No. 5-seed in the Kansas City Region. The Spartans, who appear in the tournament for the seventh time in the last eight seasons, will face No. 12 Bowling Green on Saturday, March 20 at 12:11 p.m. ET on ESPN2 in Louisville, Ky.

Printable 2010 NCAA Tournament Bracket

Also appearing in the Louisville bracket, hosted at Freedom Hall, will be No. 4 Kentucky and No. 13 Liberty. The winners of each of the first round games will play on Monday, March 22.

Michigan State has compiled a record of 13-9 in its previous NCAA Tournament appearances, including a 7-1 record in the first round. The Spartans have advanced out of the first round in each of their last six appearances, including a trip to the National Championship game in 2005 and Sweet 16 appearance in 2006 and 2009.

It is head coach Suzy Merchant's third NCAA Tournament selection, having led MSU to the Sweet 16 last year and Eastern Michigan to the NCAAs in 2004.

The Spartans enter the NCAA Tournament with a 22-9 record and finished second in the Big Ten at 12-6. The Falcons won the Mid-America Conference (MAC) regular season and tournament titles, and enter the tournament at 27-6 overall.

Michigan State was one of four Big Ten schools in the field of 64, joining No. 2 Ohio State, No. 7 Wisconsin and No. 8 Iowa.