WVU Women's Basketball Earns Top 16 Seed, Officially Hosting NCAA Tournament Games

The West Virginia women’s basketball team has earned the right to host their first and second round games in the NCAA Tournament. The team learned Saturday during an exclusive ESPN reveal of the top 16 overall seeds that the Mountaineers have earned their spot on that list.

The Mountaineers official seed, who they will be playing, and other teams in their region will be revealed on Sunday at 8 p.m on ESPN when the entire field of 68 is finalized. These games will take place at Hope Coliseum from March 20th through the 23rd.

Head Coach Mark Kellogg and his squad will be hosting NCAA Tournament games in Morgantown, showing that we are at a turning point for the program. The Mountaineers are currently 26-7 overall and riding a six-game win streak. West Virginia has defeated four ranked opponents this season, including Baylor, TCU, Iowa State, and the ACC Champion Duke Blue Devils. It is the third consecutive season in which WVU has won at least 25 games.

Home-court advantage gives WVU a chance to go far.

Just how much does home court matter in a tournament like this? Obviously, playing at home gives you the unique opportunity to have a large supporting home crowd, and Morgantown could certainly provide a unique environment next weekend.

Out of the 16 teams that got to host their first and second round games last year, just two of them did not advance to the sweet sixteen. Statistically speaking, West Virginia is in an incredibly favorable position to reach their first Sweet 16 under Mark Kellogg.

The team has been defeated in the second round in each of the last two seasons. However, the Mountaineers have all of the tools to make a serious run in the tournament as well, led by their senior guard and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Jordan Harrison. Harrison was named the Big 12 Tournament’s most outstanding player for her efforts in bringing the Mountaineers their first conference tournament title in nine years. The team has a solid supporting cast around Harrison in Sydney Shaw, Kierra Wheeler, and leading scorer Gia Cooke.

Kellogg and his team will have a chance to show the nation what they are building in Morgantown, and Mountaineer Nation will have a chance to showcase the type of environment they can create for high-stakes games like the ones we will see next week.

Make sure to bookmark West Virginia On SI for coverage of the West Virginia Mountaineers women's basketball team as they bring the NCAA Tournament to Morgantown next week!