June 30, 2003
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame has been selected as one of 16 host sites for first- and second-round games in the 2004 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship, it was announced Monday. Games will be played at the 11,418-seat Joyce Center on either March 20 & 22 or March 21 & 23, with exact dates for the games to be released by the NCAA at a later date. Ticket information for the Notre Dame subregional also will be forthcoming shortly.
“We are understandably ecstatic about the opportunity to host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament,” Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw said. “Our crowds have been nothing short of incredible in recent years and we are happy that our fans will be able to take part in this exciting event. In addition, our players are thrilled with the chance to play on their home court in front of the best college basketball fans in the nation.”
Notre Dame has been ranked in the Top 10 in the final NCAA attendance standings each of the last three years, including eighth-place finishes in both 2001-02 (7,825 fans per game) and 2002-03 (7,132).
This will mark the third time in the last five years that Notre Dame has played host to first- and second-round games in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship, and the first since the tournament began pre-selecting first- and second-round sites in 2003. The Joyce Center was home to NCAA tournament action in 2000 and 2001 with Notre Dame advancing to the Sweet Sixteen on both occasions and going on to win its first NCAA title in ’01.
In addition to Notre Dame, the following schools were chosen as host sites for the 2004 NCAA Championship: New Mexico, Iowa State, Texas, LSU, Virginia Tech, Tennessee-Chattanooga, Ohio State, Duke, Fairfield, Minnesota, Montana, Temple, UC Santa Barbara, Florida State and Arizona State.
— ND —