May 11, 2003

BOCA RATON, FL - Florida Atlantic University learned its NCAA Tournament future, Sunday night, when the NCAA announced the field of 64 teams that will be participating. The Lady Owls will take on the University of South Florida in a first round game Thursday at one of the regionals hosted by the University of Florida in Gainesville.

It will mark the fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance for the Lady Owls and the third straight in Florida. FAU took part in regionals the last two years hosted by Florida State.

FAU (42-26) is fresh off of its seventh consecutive Atlantic Sun Conference championship after defeating Central Florida twice on Saturday.

The eight teams placed in the Gainesville regional include Oklahoma, Florida State, Florida, South Florida, FAU, Oregon State, Texas-Arlington, and Bethune-Cookman. Other first round games include Oklahoma vs B-CC, FSU vs Texas-Arlington, and Florida vs Oregon State. The regional is a double-elimination format and concludes on Sunday, May 18, with the winner advancing to the Women's College World Series.

"Obviously Oklahoma and Florida State are the teams to beat in this regional," said FAU head coach Joan Joyce. "Both have been ranked in the top ten most of the season, and both have excellent teams"

FAU enters the regional with 16 wins in its last 18 games. "I feel we are playing our best ball of the season," added Joyce. "Although a lot of people didn't give this team a chance at the beginning of the season, I think our regular season and post-season A-Sun championships show we are capable of winning this regional."

The Lady Owls faced South Florida earlier this season in a 4-1 loss in Tampa on February 2. Overall, FAU has faced all but Oregon State and Texas-Arlington in its nine-year history and holds a 27-22 all-time record against the schools in the regional.

The NCAA Tournament consists of eight regionals featuring eight teams each. The winners of each regional advance to the WCWS. This year, the field expanded from 48 to 64 teams. FAU received one of 26 automatic berths with the remaining 38 teams being selected on an at-large basis.

Regional Overview
1. Oklahoma (42-12, ranked no. 4)
2. Florida State (46-9, ranked no. 10, ACC Champions)
3. Florida (40-23, ranked no. 24)
4. South Florida (53-17, ranked no. 21)
5. Florida Atlantic (42-26, A-Sun Champions)
6. Oregon State (32-29, RV)
7. Texas-Arlington (39-15, RV, Southland Conference Champions)
8. Bethune-Cookman (39-22, MEAC Champions)

Regional Schedule (Thursday, May 15)
9:00am, FAU vs South Florida
Noon, B-CC vs Oklahoma
2:30pm, Oregon State vs Florida
5:30pm, UTA vs Florida State