CS Long Beach Women Seeded Second in East : 49ers Get First-Round Bye; CS Fullerton Also Gains NCAA Tournament Berth

Cal State Long Beach was seeded second in the East Regional of the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. women’s basketball tournament, in pairings announced Sunday.

If seedings follow form, the 49ers (28-4) will have a chance to avenge an early season loss to second-ranked Tennessee (30-2) in the regional final. That game will be played at Western Kentucky in Bowling Green, Ky.

All four regionals will be played on the same dates, March 23 and 25.

The 49ers lost to the Vols in the second game of the season, and it took the team several games to recover.

“Both teams are so different than at that point in the season,” Long Beach Coach Joan Bonvicini said Sunday. “I hope we get a chance to play them again. I’m really pleased.”

Top-ranked Auburn gained the NCAA tournament’s top seeding. The Tigers (28-1) will also play host to the Mideast Regional.

Fifth-ranked Maryland (26-2) is top-seeded and Texas is second-seeded in the West Regional, which will be played at Austin, Tex.

Third-ranked Louisiana Tech (29-3) is top-seeded in the Midwest Regional, which will be played at the Techsters’ home in Ruston, La.

The Final Four is at Tacoma, Wash., March 31 and April 2.

The Big West Conference fared well, placing four teams in the tournament. Besides Long Beach, Cal State Fullerton (21-8) was placed in the West Regional and will play at Montana (26-3) Wednesday. Hawaii (18-9) and Nevada Las Vegas (25-6) are also in the West Regional.

Long Beach, which clinched its third conference title Saturday afternoon, gained a first-round bye and will play host to a second-round game next Sunday at 2 p.m. at University Gym.

The 49ers will play the winner of the St. Joseph’s-Vanderbilt game, which will be played Wednesday at Philadelphia. Long Beach has never played either team.

But the seventh-ranked 49ers will be plenty familiar with their opponent, if they gain a rematch against Tennessee, which is top-seeded in the East.

The 49ers played the Vols Dec. 3 in a game that was trumpeted as a showdown between then Nos. 1 (Tennessee) and 2 (Long Beach). Some of the luster was taken off that game when the 49ers were upset two nights earlier at Louisiana State.

Long Beach made matters worse by playing a poor game at Knoxville, Tenn. The 49ers had 27 turnovers and were outrebounded, 53-45. That 0-2 start was the worst in the team’s history.

Long Beach struggled, then put together a 21-game winning streak, a school record. The 49ers beat Nevada Las Vegas Saturday afternoon, 89-81, to win the conference title.

Although Long Beach has become more consistent during the season, Bonvicini said the team is not near its potential.

“I don’t think we’ve peaked yet,” she said. “We’ve played some good halves. What’s interesting about this team is that it wants to win so badly. I think our team has grown a lot. We have 11 kids on the team and 9 have been to the Final Four. Our four seniors have been in the last two Final Fours.”

Both Long Beach and Tennessee lost in the NCAA semifinals last year; Long Beach losing to Auburn and Tennessee to Louisiana Tech, the eventual national champion.

Tennessee has been hurt this season at guard. First, it lost Kris Durham, who transferred during the season. Then it lost point guard Tonya Edwards Jan. 31 against Texas. Edwards had surgery to repair a torn ligament in her left knee. The Volunteers called on Dena Head, a freshman, to step in.

Head was named the Southeastern Conference freshman player of the year.

“We wouldn’t be here if Dena hadn’t come through for us,” Tennessee Coach Pat Summitt said.

The Vols won the SEC championship by beating Auburn--the only loss the Tigers suffered this season.

Summitt said the team was purposefully low-key at the SEC tournament.

“The kids said they peaked for it last year and they were determined not to do that again,” Summitt said. “We went there this year and played entirely on an even keel. I like what I’ve seen in this Tennessee team.”

The Vols play the winner of the Connecticut-LaSalle game, to be played at Connecticut Wednesday.

Bonvicini is especially pleased with being placed in the East Regional because it is the only regional that does not offer a home-court advantage to a seeded team. However, Summitt predicted a Tennessee crowd.

“I would hope we draw a pretty good crowd,” Summitt said.