After beating three 20-win teams in a span of 45 hours to win the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference title, Illinois States womens basketball teams next challenge will be sixth ranked Baylor at 1 p.m., central time, on Saturday, March 19, at Bank of America Arena in Seattle, Wash., in the NCAA Tournament.
Television coverage will be provided by ESPN2 and ESPNU.
The Redbirds enter the tournament as a No. 15 seed, while Baylor will play as a No. 2 seed. The Redbirds run to the conference title started Thursday and ended Saturday with wins over three of the top four teams in the MVC, including SMS (20-8), Northern Iowa (20-11) and Indiana State (22-8).
Baylor (27-3) comes into the tournament ranked No. 6 in the nation after having won both the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles. The Redbirds (13-17), despite being the only team in the tournament with a sub-.500 record, will play as a No. 15 seed.
Im very excited to be a No. 15 seed, Pingeton said. I think it speaks volumes about the respect that we have around the country. We have a challenging game ahead of us, but this is a great position for us to be in.
Senior guard Jaci McCormack, whose game-winning basket with 0.8 seconds left against Indiana State extended the Redbirds season, is looking forward to heading west. Seattle is only six hours from her home on the Nez Perce Reservation near Lapwai, Idaho, and she is looking forward to having her family present.
Ive already called my mom and everyone is excited about coming and watching us play, McCormack said. If my family was willing to drive 32 hours [to Normal for the MVC Tournament], I know theyll be willing to drive six.
This game will also be a homecoming of sorts for Katie Ward, who is from nearby Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Im glad were in Seattle, Pingeton said. This puts Jaci (McCormack) only six hours from her family, and this also puts us only 2-3 hours from Katies (Ward) family. It will be nice to have some Redbird fans out there.
Pingeton also took time to praise her coaching staff of Randy Norton, Jenny Putnam and Willie Cox for their effort all season.
After everything that this team has been through this season with the challenges and setbacks, Im so blessed with the staff that I have, Pingeton said. Theyve done a tremendous job, and our athletes have shown so much resiliency.
