WASHINGTON - The American University women's basketball team (23-8) received a 14-seed and will visit third-seeded Michigan (22-6) in Ann Arbor in the first round of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship. This is the program's third NCAA Tournament berth in seven years.
The game is set for Saturday, March 19 and will tip-off at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN2. The pairings were announced by the NCAA in the selection show on Sunday night.
Sixth-seeded BYU (26-3) will face 11-seed Villanova (23-8) in the other first-round game on Saturday at Michigan. The winners of the first-round games will play on Monday, March 21.
The Eagles won their seventh game in a row earlier today at Bender Arena in defeating Bucknell, 65-54, to capture their third Patriot League title in program history. All three conference championships have been won during the nine-year tenure of head coach Megan Gebbia. American is now 16-0 in conference tournament games at Bender Arena under Gebbia.
Leading AU is Preseason Patriot League Player of the Year and All-Patriot League First Team selection Jade Edwards, who averages 12.8 points per game and scored a game-high 21 points in the championship victory. All-Patriot League Third Team selection Taylor Brown also averages in double figures with 10.3 points per game and posted 18 in today's title game. All-Patriot League Defensive Team honoree and Tournament MVP Emily Fisher is third in the PL with 4.2 assists per game and scored a career-high 25 points in AU's semifinal win over Boston University.
The Eagles have faced Michigan just once before, losing in Ann Arbor during the 2016-17 regular season.
Michigan comes into the tournament with a 22-6 record overall, though it has lost four of its last six including a quarterfinal defeat in the Big Ten Tournament. The Wolverines were the league's No. 3 seed, and came into postseason play ranked No. 10 in the nation. Kim Barnes Arico, in her 10th season as the head coach at Michigan, was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year, her second such honor after also earning the award in 2017. Naz Hillmon became the first Wolverine ever to earn four First Team All-Big Ten honors, tallying 13 double-doubles during the regular season, and averaging 21.1 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.
NCAA TOURNAMENT TICKET REQUEST FORM
All fans interested in purchasing tickets to see American play in the NCAA Tournament in Ann Arbor should go to https://aueagles.com/tickets/NCAAWBBTickets22 now to submit their NCAA Tournament Ticket Request Form.
Ticket requests will be processed on a first come, first serve basis, allotted using the below priority criteria. Please note that due to NCAA policy, the amount of NCAA tickets provided to AU is extremely limited. A two-ticket limit may be instituted at the discretion of American University Athletics.
2022 AU Women's Basketball NCAA Ticket Priority
Priority to purchase NCAA post-season tickets is as follows (in ranked order):
1.) Eagles Club members who have made lifetime gifts to Athletics in excess of $10,000 and are current Eagles Club members
2.) Eagles Club members who donate $2,500 or more to the athletics annual fund this year.
3.) Eagles Club members who donated $1,250 or more to the athletics annual fund this year.
4.) 2021-22 Eagles Club Members
5.) American University Alumni/Faculty/Staff/Students
6.) American University Fans/General Public
Note: Donors to the women's basketball program and basketball season ticket holders will receive highest priority in each category above.
For the latest on American University Women's Basketball, stay tuned to AUEagles.com and follow the team on Twitter (@AU_WBasketball) and Instagram (@auwbasketball).
