Marquette Set for Third Straight NCAA Tournament

MILWAUKEE-- The BIG EAST regular season champion Marquette women's basketball team will make its 12th appearance in the NCAA Championship this weekend as the No. 5 seed in the Chicago Region and will face No. 12 seed Rice in College Station, Texas on Friday, March 22.

Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. CT on ESPN2 with Lowell Galindo and A'ja Wilson calling the action from Reed Arena on the campus of Texas A&M.

The Golden Eagles (26-7) are making their third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament and second straight at-large selection, marking the first stretch of three years in-a-row since Marquette went to the Big Dance for four straight years from 1997-2000. The No. 5 seed matches a program-best for highest seed as the Golden Eagles were also a five-seed in 2017.

MU is 5-11 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and has never advanced past the second round. Head coach Carolyn Kieger has led the Golden Eagles to each of their three tournament appearances and is 1-2 in the Big Dance earning her first postseason victory against Dayton in the 2017 first round.

The Golden Eagles are led by an experienced senior class, which features five scorers that average double figures and all own over 1,300 career points led by BIG EAST Player of the Year Natisha Hiedeman with 17.8 points per game and BIG EAST Sixth-Woman of the Year Allazia Blockton, who is Marquette's all-time leading scorer, averaging 14.4 points per contest.

The advancing team will face the winner of the No. 4 seed and host Texas A&M and No. 13 Wright State on Sunday, March 24 at a time to be determined.

The Series with Rice

Marquette and Rice will meet for just the third time in history with the Golden Eagles owning a 2-0 record in the all-time series. The most recent meeting was Dec 3, 2006 in Houston with a 78-62 decision.