RUSTON, La. -- The National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Women's Basketball Committee has selected Louisiana Tech as one of the 16 first and second round predetermined sites for the 2003 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.
The committee forwarded the sites to the NCAA Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet, which approved them at its recent meeting
in Indianapolis. Thus, the Thomas Assembly Center (8,000) will once again host the 2003 NCAA Tournament first and second rounds which will be held March 22 and 24 and March 23 and 25.
This marks the first year since the NCAA took over the women's tournament in 1982 that the sites have been predetermined. Over the past 21 NCAA Tournaments, first and second round games were played on the home court of the top 16 seeds, while the regional sites and the Women's Final Four were played at predetermined sites.
The 2003 tournament will mark the 14th time in 17 years that the Lady Techsters have played host to the first round; from 1986 through 1990 Tech
received a bye in the first round of the tournament but did host second round games. The only three tournaments where the Lady Techsters didn't host a first or second round game came in 1991, 1992 and 2002.
The importance of hosting the first and second rounds can be seen in Tech's all-time success at home as opposed to on the road. Tech is 34-0 all-time in NCAA Tournament games played in Ruston, including a 31-0 mark at the Thomas Assembly Center.
2003 First- and Second-Round SitesSite Host
Bramlage Coliseum (13,340) Kansas State University
Manhattan, Kansas
Bryce Jordan Center (15,261) Penn State University
University Park, Pennsylvania
Constant Convocation Center (8,600) Old Dominion University
Norfolk, Virginia
Coors Events and Conference Center (11,076) Univ. of Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,027) Univ. of Connecticut
Storrs, Connecticut
Lloyd Noble Center (11,800) Univ. of Oklahoma
Norman, Oklahoma
Mackey Arena (14,123) Purdue University
West Lafayette, Indiana
Maples Pavilion (7,391) Stanford University
Stanford, California
McArthur Court (9,087) Univ. of Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Reynolds Coliseum (10,000) North Carolina State Univ.
Raleigh, North Carolina
Shoemaker Center (13,176) Univ. of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Stegeman Coliseum (10,075) Univ. of Georgia
Athens, Georgia
Thomas Assembly Center (8,000) Louisiana Tech University
Ruston, Louisiana
Thompson-Boling Arena (25,000) Univ. of Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee
United Spirit Arena (15,000) Texas Tech University
Lubbock, Texas
University Arena (16,596) Univ. of New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico