GU, WSU to host NCAA women’s tournament games

The NCAA Women’s Basketball Committee has selected Gonzaga to host the first two rounds of the 2011 tournament at McCarthey Athletic Center with the regional finals the next weekend at the Arena, hosted by Washington State. The regional finals have been at the Arena twice in the past, most recently in 2008 but this is the first time the openings rounds have been in Spokane and the first time McCarthey and Gonzaga have been the hosts. The announcement was made Thursday. “The committee was pleased with the level of interest in our championship that we found from cities, institutions and conferences across the country,” said Jane Meyer, senior associate director of athletics at the University of Iowa and chair of the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee. “Of the 20 preliminary sites for 2011, we have 11 different conferences represented.” The games at GU will be either Saturday, March 19 and Monday, March 21, 2011 or Sunday, March 20 and Tuesday, March 22, 2011. The regionals finals are scheduled for Saturday, March 26 and Monday, March 28, 2011. The other school sites for the first two rounds are Duke, New Mexico, Auburn, Virginia, Xavier (Cincinnati), Maryland, Ohio State, Tennessee, Utah, Louisiana Tech, Stanford, Connecticut, Penn State, Baylor and Wichita State. The regionals include Dayton, Ohio, Philadelphia and Dallas.