Golden Eagles to Meet Cincinnati in the BIG EAST Tournament

March 5, 2009

MILWAUKEE -

The Marquette women's basketball team will make its fourth appearance in the BIG EAST Conference Tournament at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn., March 6-10.

The Golden Eagles (16-14, 7-9 BIG EAST) enter the tournament as the No. 9 seed and will play No. 16 seed Cincinnati (13-16, 3-13 BIG EAST)in the first round on Friday, March 6, at 2 p.m.ET/1 p.m. CT.

First round games will be available on the BIG EAST's website through the conference's official streaming video platform, BIGEAST.tv.

Marquette and Cincinnati (13-16, 3-13 BIG EAST) will meet for the 29th time in a series that began in 1992 as members of the Great Midwest Conference. The Golden Eagles own the series advantage, 20-8, and have claimed the last four wins. Marquette's last four victories have been by an average of 13 points.

Marquette won the two teams' previous meeting this season, 67-61 in Cincinnati. In that contest, Angel Robinson scored a game-high 17 points, while Cincinnati-native Jessica Pachko poured in 14 and Krystal Ellis added 15 points.

Cincinnati and Marquette have met once in a conference tournament. The Bearcats defeated the Golden Eagles in the semifinals of the 1999 Conference USA Tournament in Louisville, Ky., 89-71.

Should Marquette advance to the second round, it would play on Saturday, March 7 at 2 p.m. ET/ 1p.m. ET against No. 8 seed USF. Second round games are set to air on BIG?EAST?Regional Television, locally on Time Warner Sports 32, with Beth Mowins and Brooke Weisbrod on the call.

A win over the?Bulls would pit Marquette top seed and conference champion No. 1/1 Connecticut in the BIG?EAST?Quarterfinals on Sunday, March 8 at 2 p.m. ET, on ESPNU.