March 11, 2015

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina women’s basketball will celebrate the announcement of the NCAA Tournament bracket with its fans on Mon., Mar. 16, at Colonial Life Arena. The main entrance of the arena will open at 5:30 p.m. for the “one. FAN-ily Selection Show” sponsored by Hilton Columbia Center. The event will feature fan/student-athlete competitions and a performance by the Carolina Girls.

Programming begins a 5:50 p.m., with the NCAA Selection Show beginning at 7 p.m. Everyone will watch the ESPN broadcast on the scoreboard, and South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley will address the crowd once the Gamecocks have been selected. Fans are welcome to sit anywhere in sections 103-108, and concession stands will be open in those areas as well. IMG Ticketing will also be on hand to take deposits for 2015-16 season tickets. Fans can also purchase tickets to the first- and second-round NCAA Tournament games anticipated being at Colonial Life Arena next weekend at the Arena Box Office.

South Carolina is enjoying a historic 2014-15 season, tying the school record with 30 wins and winning the program’s first SEC Tournament championship. The SEC regular-season co-champions are ranked No. 3/4 in the nation and boast the league’s player of the year (Tiffany Mitchell), freshman of the year (A’ja Wilson) and scholar-athlete of the year (Aleighsa Welch). The trio earned First-Team All-SEC honors, making South Carolina the first program since Tennessee in 2001 to have three entries on the coaches’ first team.

The NCAA Tournament begins with first- and second-round games at the campus sites of the top-16 seeded teams on March 20-23. The following two rounds are played the next weekend at regional sites in Oklahoma City, Okla., Greensboro, N.C., Albany, N.Y., and Spokane, Wash. The Final Four will be held April 5-7 in Tampa.