TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Seminoles.com) — Florida State Women’s Basketball has been selected to play in the inaugural First Four of the NCAA Tournament. FSU is a No. 11 seed and will battle fellow No. 11 Missouri State on Thursday, March 17, at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, La.
The winner of Thursday’s game between the Seminoles (17-13) and the Lady Bears (24-7) of the Missouri Valley Conference will battle No. 6 seed Ohio State (23-6) on Saturday in the first round at a time and television network to be determined. Host and No. 3 seed LSU (25-5) faces No. 14 seed Jackson State (23-6) on Saturday in the first round.
The winner of Saturday’s first-round games will play at PMAC on Monday for the right to advance to the NCAA Sweet 16 in Spokane, Wash.
The Seminoles (17-13) become one of just eight programs to make each of the last nine NCAA Tournaments. FSU joins Baylor, Louisville, Maryland, South Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee and UConn on that illustrious list. FSU has made every Big Dance since 2013, making it part of just the two percent of Division I programs whom carry such a streak.
On a bigger scale, FSU joins only ACC counterparts Louisville and Notre Dame among the league’s teams to make the NCAA Tournament in 16 of the last 17 seasons. Overall, the ACC had eight teams make the Big Dance, including FSU (11 seed), Georgia Tech (9), Louisville (1), Miami (8), North Carolina (5), NC State (1), Notre Dame (5) and Virginia Tech (5).
FSU’s selection was keyed by a strong finish to the season when it was fully healthy and playing its best stretch of basketball. The Seminoles won seven of their last 10 games played, including an important ACC Tournament Second Round game vs. Boston College. FSU’s wins over its last 10 games came against an opponent group that averaged a Top 50 NET ranking (46th).
For the 19th consecutive year, an ESPN channel will broadcast all 67 games of the 2022 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship. This marks the 27th straight year (since 1996) ESPN is the championship’s exclusive television home. All games will be available online via the ESPN App. The 2022 NCAA Women’s Final Four is expected to be distributed to over 200 countries around the world.
Florida State’s selection to the newly increased field of 68 marks its 20th NCAA Tournament selection, including its 16th appearance under head coach Sue Semrau. It will mark FSU’s fourth appearance as a double-digit seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Thursday’s meeting will be FSU’s fourth all-time against Missouri State. The two schools have not met since Dec. 21, 1997.
Tickets for the NCAA First Four as well as First and Second Rounds in Baton Rouge, La., go on sale to the public on Tuesday at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. CT on LSUtix.net.
