The Championship, which begins Friday, March 7th at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse on the campus of Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, Pa., will feature 12 teams vying for the A-10 title and the automatic berth into the 2008 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship.
The top four seeds earned a first-round bye in the Championship. Along with Temple and George Washington, No. 3 Xavier (21-8/11-3) and No. 4 Charlotte (18-12/9-5) will all begin play in the quarterfinals on Saturday, March 8th. Temple is hoping to win its fifth A-10 title in six years, while George Washington is also looking for its fifth Championship and first since 2003. Xavier, the defending A-10 Champion, earned a bye for the fourth straight year and is hoping to win its second straight Championship. Charlotte is making its third appearance in the Atlantic 10 Championship after having lost in the quarterfinals for the past two seasons.
Dayton (23-7/9-5) played its way to the fifth seed, while Saint Joseph's (16-13/8-6) earned the sixth seed. St. Bonaventure (18-11/6-8), Richmond (13-18/6-8) and Duquesne (15-14/6-8) all finished Conference play at 6-8 to force a tie-break scenario. The Bonnies earned the seventh seed after going 2-1 versus the other two squads, followed by Richmond with the eighth seed as a result of a 1-1 record in the tie-breaker. Finally, Duquesne, under first-year head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio, is seeded ninth after going 1-2 in the group. Duquesne joins the field of 12 this season after not qualifying for the Championship in 2007.
Rhode Island (12-17/5-9), Saint Louis (10-19/5-9) and Massachusetts (13-16/5-9) round out the seeding after all three finished at 5-9 in league play. Rhode Island earned the tenth seed with a 2-1 record against the group, Saint Louis was 1-1 to grab the 11th-seed, and Massachusetts finished 1-2 versus the teams capturing the 12th and final seed.
Opening round action commences at noon on Friday, March 7 with a quadruple-header. The four quarterfinal games will start at noon on Saturday, March 8. Sunday's semifinal games will begin at 12:00 pm on March 9, while Monday's Championship game, on March 10, will by broadcast nationally by ESPN2 at 5:00 pm.