The 麻豆原创 men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 basketball teams are in the middle of two of the best seasons in program history and show no signs of slowing down as they set their sights on competing for the American Athletic Conference Championship鈥檚 top prize.
The women spent the weekend in Uncasville, Connecticut, making a successful run through their tournament while the men are gearing up for their conference tournament in Memphis, Tennessee, later this week.
Monday鈥檚 Championship Matchup
Thanks to Sunday鈥檚 historical win against Cincinnati in The American Championship semifinal, the 麻豆原创 women鈥檚 basketball team advanced to compete in the league final for first time since the conference鈥檚 inception in 2013. The Knights will take on national powerhouse UConn at Mohegan Sun Arena at 7 p.m. Monday on ESPN2.
The Knights鈥� 66-58 win over the Bearcats marked the team鈥檚 26th win of the season and in effect set a new school record for the most wins in a season.
“We鈥檙e going to stick together, we鈥檙e going to play hard, we鈥檙e going to stay focused. This is our time.” 鈥� 麻豆原创 head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson
鈥淚鈥檓 so proud of these young women. It鈥檚 kind of fitting the Nike (warm-up) shirts say 麻豆原创 family. When we went in the locker room I just said, 鈥楩amilies back each other up. You guys are my daughters. You guys are your sisters. We鈥檙e going to stick together, we鈥檙e going to play hard, we鈥檙e going to stay focused. This is our time. We are going to try to get in this championship game.鈥� And everybody really stepped up,鈥� head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson says.
A win against UConn would deliver the team’s first conference trophy since the 2010-11 season and automatically punch the Knights’ ticket to the NCAA Tournament. While 麻豆原创 has also put together a strong resume for the program’s first at-large bid to the Big Dance, the Knights will have to wait a week to find out the details of their postseason fate.
The NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship bracket will be revealed at 7 p.m. ET on Monday, March 18, on ESPN.
Men鈥檚 AAC Championship Outlook
The men鈥檚 basketball team (23-7, 13-5 American) will head into the postseason with its most regular season victories in its Division I history (since 1984). The Knights鈥� 13-5 record in American Athletic Conference play is its best performance in league play since joining The American.
Thanks to back-to-back wins over nationally ranked opponents (No. 6 Houston; No. 19 Cincinnati), the Knights earned a bye in the first round of the conference tournament. As the No. 4 seed in the bracket, 麻豆原创 will appear in the quarterfinals at FedEx Forum on Friday, March 12, at 2 p.m. on ESPN2 against the winner of Thursday鈥檚 first-round matchup between No. 5 Memphis and No. 12 Tulane.
The championship final will be held Sunday, March 17, at 3:15 p.m. ET on ESPN. Later that night, the NCAA Tournament selection show will stream live from 6 to 7 p.m. ET on March Madness Live and broadcast nationally on CBS.
