NCAA Tournament today: 3 things to know about William & Mary, Texas' 1st-round opponent
The bracket is set and we know who stands in the way of Texas women's basketball in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
The William & Mary Tribe and High Point Panthers, winners of their respective conferences, played each other for a chance to meet the Longhorns on Saturday. The Tribe beat the Panthers by six in Moody Center on Thursday.
Because the Longhorns are a No. 1 seed, they will host the first- and second-round games in Austin. The winner of Saturday night's game moves on to play Monday again Creighton or Illinois (they meet at 6:45 p.m. Saturday).
Here are three things to know about the Longhorns' first opponent:
William & Mary is a conference champion
The Tribe won the Coastal Atlantic Association conference tournament. It needed four wins in four days, including an upset of top-seeded North Carolina A&T, to make the title game after finishing the season 8-10 in conference play.
W&M beat third-seeded Campbell 66-63 for the championship in comeback victory, thanks to an efficient paint offense and exploiting Campbell's 16 turnovers. The Tribe then took out High Point in a First Four game in Austin.
NCAA tournament history
Despite appearances in other tournaments, the Tribe is new to the DI NCAA Tournament.
This is the first time in program history, William & Mary is going to the Big Dance. It's a high honor for a team that went just 16-18 this season.
Led by experienced upperclassmen
Like Texas, the Tribe is led by experienced seniors and juniors.
Senior guard Bella Nascimento leads the team in points, averaging 16.5 this season and had 33 in the conference title game. She also leads the team in steals averaging 1.6 per game. The Massachusetts native had 24 points and was 9-for-21 from the field against High Point.
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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: March Madness preview today: 3 things to know about William & Mary
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