Put On Your Dancing Shoes

The 64-team field competing for the 2005 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship was announced today by the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee. The Ole Miss women's basketball team received an invitation for the second-straight season and 16th time in the history of the program. "It is great that we are back in the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row," said Ole Miss head coach Carol Ross, who owns a 36-24 record in her two seasons at the helm of the Lady Rebel program. "I think it speaks well for the program and the players and what they have been able to accomplish this season." The Lady Rebels (19-10) received an eight seed and will take on the nine seed George Washington (22-8) on Sunday, March 20 in Chapel Hill, N.C. Game times are yet to be determined. "As far as the program goes it just solidifies that we are back and that we are a part of March again, which is where we are supposed to be," said Ross. "I am real happy for the seniors; Amber Watts, Amber Terrell, Carletta Brown and Elizabeth Cansdale to have a chance to stamp this as their team. They worked awfully hard to get this team back ready to play in March." Ole Miss enters the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship with a 19-10 overall mark and an 8-6 record in SEC play. The Lady Rebels have posted a 15-15 mark in the NCAA Tournament, having advanced to the Elite 8 on four occasions (1985, 1986, 1989 and 1992).
The Lady Rebels are led by sophomore All-SEC First Team selection and SEC Defensive Player of the Year Armintie Price with 17.0 points, 10.3 rebounds and 3.2 steals per game. Senior center Amber Watts, a Second Team All-SEC selection adds 11.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, while senior guard Carletta Brown leads the team with 4.7 assists per game and also contributes 8.7 points per contest. "I was really nervous not knowing what was going to happen as far as us making it into the tournament," said Price. "I felt confident, but you never know until you see your name up on the television. We had to wait for a few of the brackets to go by before we saw our name. It was very exciting to see Mississippi up on the board. Now we just have to let the excitement bubble down and get down to work." George Washington compiled a 22-8 overall record during the 2004-05 season, including a 13-3 mark in Atlantic-10 Conference play. The Lady Colonials are led by senior forward Anna Montanana with 17.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Senior center Jessica Simmonds adds 14.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, while freshman guard Kimberly Beck dishes 5.3 assists per game and chips in 8.0 points per outing.
The winner of the Ole Miss-George Washington game will take on the winner of the match-up between No. 1 seeded North Carolina and No. 16 seeded Coppin State. The winner of that game will advance to the Tempe Regional the following weekend.