In its second consecutive trip to the big dance after back-to-back Colonial Athletic Association Championships, 12th-seeded James Madison women’s basketball is headed to Chapel Hill, N.C., to take on fifth-seeded Ohio State in the first round of the NCAA Division I Championship as a part of the Greensboro Regional.
JMU opens the tournament on Saturday, March 21, at 1:30 p.m. EST. The winner of the meeting between the Dukes and Buckeyes faces the winner of the first-round game between fourth-seeded North Carolina and 13th-seeded Liberty on Monday, March 23, in the round of 32.
This is the sixth meeting between JMU and Ohio State. The Buckeyes hold a 5-0 series lead over the Dukes. The last meeting between the two programs was in 2001 on March 25 where the Dukes fell 74-65. Each of the last two meetings have been nine-point losses for the Dukes.
The Dukes are competing in their 11th NCAA Tournament, including their fourth appearance in the last six seasons. Last year, JMU won its first NCAA Tournament contest since 1991, taking down sixth-seeded Gonzaga 72-63 in the first round as an 11 seed.
JMU is 29-3 this season, tied for the most single-season wins in program history. Madison was ranked as high as No. 21 in the USA Today Coaches Poll in 2014-15 and as high as No. 23 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll. The Dukes became just the third team in NCAA Division I history to reach 1,000 program wins with a 74-57 win over UNCW on Jan. 6, while Head Coach Kenny Brooks became the all-time winningest coach with his 303rd victory on Feb. 15, a 94-64 defeat of Delaware.
Ohio State went 23-10 and 13-5 in the Big Ten this season. The Buckeyes, under second-year head coach Kevin McGuff, fell to Maryland in the Big Ten title game 77-74 after topping Minnesota and Iowa in their first two contests of the tournament. JMU and Ohio State have two common opponents on their schedule. The Dukes beat Pittsburgh onNov. 23 by the score of 80-64 while Ohio State fell to the Panthers 78-74 on Dec. 3 in Columbus, Ohio. Both teams also played Maryland as JMU fell to the Terrapins in Puerto Rico 80-64 while Ohio State lost the regular-season matchup 87-78 against the Terrapins before the aformentioned loss in the Big Ten finals.
Tickets for JMU’s first-round game and potential second-round game will go on sale Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. To purchase tickets for the contest, visit JMUtickets.com or click here. You can also purchase tickets in-person at the JMU Convocation Center ticket office or by calling (540) 568-DUKE (3853) starting at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning.
Stay tuned to JMUSports.com and follow JMU women’s basketball on Twitter @JMUWBasketball for updates, recaps and behind-the-scenes pictures from the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
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