West Virginia’s women’s basketball team will be on its home court for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament … if the Mountaineers can advance.
WVU was awarded the No. 4 seed during Sunday night’s NCAA selection show and will play No. 13 Miami (Ohio) in the opening round Sunday. Game time and television designation have yet to be announced.
No. 5 Kentucky (23-10) and No. 12 James Madison (26-8) also will meet Saturday in Morgantown. The winners of those games will play in the Round of 32.
West Virginia (27-6) won the Big 12 Tournament last week to clinch its first NCAA automatic bid since 2017. The Mountaineers are led by the Big 12 defensive player of the year Jordan Harrison and leading scorer Gia Cooke (14.7 ppg).
Miami (Ohio) enters the NCAA Tournament with a record of 28-6 after finishing tied for first in the Mid-American Conference during the regular season and winning the MAC Tournament. The RedHawks earned their second berth to the NCAA Tournament in program history.
They are paced by leading scorer Amber Tretter (14.5 ppg) and MAC Tournament MVP Amber Scalia (13.7).
This will be the first time WVU has hosted an NCAA Tournament game since 1992, when the field had just 48 teams. During that season, the Mountaineers were the No. 4 seed and defeated Clemson to advance to the Sweet 16 for the only time in program history.
West Virginia was also a No. 4 seed in 2021, but the tournament was moved to a “bubble” in San Antonio because of covid-19. WVU was as high as a No. 2 seed in 2014 and No. 3 in 2010, but tournament games were at predetermined host sites.
The winner of the Morgantown bracket advances to the regional semifinal in Fort Worth, Texas. The NCAA Women’s Final Four will be April 3 and 5 at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Ariz.
Tickets for the games in Morgantown, W.Va., go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday at wvusports.com.