COLLEGE STATION, Texas – On the heels of their highest-ever national ranking and first-ever Big 12 Conference Tournament title, the eighth-ranked Texas A&M women’s basketball team earned a program-best No. 2 seed in the 2008 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship as announced on Selection Monday. A&M will face 15th-seeded Texas-San Antonio (23-9) in first-round action of the Oklahoma City Regional to be held on Saturday, March 22 at 11 a.m. (CT) in Baton Rouge, La. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.

The Aggies (26-7) are making their fifth all-time NCAA Tournament appearance and were one of eight top seeds in the 64-team field including top-seeded Connecticut, North Carolina, Maryland and Tennessee as well as second-seeded Rutgers, LSU and Stanford. The winner will move on to the second round and meet either seventh-seeded Syracuse (22-8) or 10th-seeded Hartford (27-5). First-and second-round games will be played at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on the campus of host LSU.

“When you look at the logistics, how many No. 2 seeds tied for third-place in their conference?” said Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair who has now led three schools (Stephen F. Austin and Arkansas) to a combined 14 NCAA appearances. “But, we earned it through our non-conference schedule, winning 13-of-14 down the stretch and because of the growth of our program. We are standing tall and have accomplished something that has never happened before at A&M. When you earn a No. 2 seed, the selection committee is rewarding you for the body of your work of what the Big 12 has done as an overall conference this year.”

With the seventh-toughest schedule in the nation, A&M had four non-conference opponents earn NCAA Tournament berths including Conference USA champion SMU, Auburn, George Washington and Florida State. The Aggies were one of a league-record eight Big 12 schools to dance in March along with Kansas State, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Texas, Baylor, Oklahoma and Nebraska.

“It’s very exciting,” said All-Big 12 Second Team selection A’Quonesia Franklin who is a part of a five-member Senior Class who will make their third-straight NCAA Tournament appearance. “Coming into a program at the bottom of the Big 12 as a freshman to being one of the top teams in the country as a senior, is quite an accomplishment. Our hard work on the court and in practice has paid off. Personally, it’s very special to me because I’ve always wanted to be apart of a championship team and look at us now, we have two championship rings. Our team has been together all three years and being a veteran ballclub should help us have a good postseason run.”

A&M leads 9-4 in the all-time series versus Southland champion UTSA and last met the Roadrunners during the senior class’ freshmen campaign in 2004-05 in College Station. The Aggies prevailed with a 74-48 victory and have won three-straight in the 13-game series. Current UTSA Director of Athletic Lynn Hickey coached A&M from 1984-94.

“We have been through a lot over the last three years and have accomplished so much,” said senior combination guard/forward and Big 12 Sixth Man Award recipient Morenike Atunrase who is a Louisiana native from Shreveport. “All of our hardwork has paid off. Going back home will be very special for me because all of my family lives in Louisiana. In years to come, Coach Blair will recruit players like our senior class to continue to build our women’s basketball program at A&M. It has been very special to have been apart of many milestones and we look forward to seeing how we match up against UTSA this weekend.”

Tickets can be purchased by calling the 12th Man Foundation Ticket Office at 1-888-99-AGGIE. A&M earned the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and eclipsed a previous program-best No. 4 seed in last year’s Dallas Regional.

“My seniors are everything to me,” Blair said. “They believed in us. My seniors at Arkansas took me to the 1998 Final Four and I really believe this team at Texas A&M is better than that Final Four squad. We got hot, we got a couple of breaks and we played well. That’s what we want to do is get on a roll. The most important thing to us is UTSA. Our team has done a good job of not looking ahead and playing the game at hand. We have a chance to stay close to home and are within five hours of Baton Rouge and Oklahoma City. What more would we want?”

TEXAS A&M ALL-TIME NCAA TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES (5)

2008 – TBA (No. 2 seed)*

2007 – NCAA Second Round (No. 4 seed)

2006 – NCAA First Round (No. 6 seed)

1996 – NCAA First Round (No. 7 seed)

1994 – NCAA Sweet 16 (No. 13 seed)*

* NCAA Automatic Bid