UConn women ready to go forth

Please pardon the University of Connecticut women's basketball team if the number three is uppermost in its mind right now.

The three-time defending champions learned yesterday that they had been named the No. 3 seed in the Kansas City Regional of the NCAA Tournament and would meet an opponent they have played three times in the past.

The Huskies (23-7) will be taking on Dartmouth (17-10), the 14th seed, on their home court in Storrs, Conn., on Sunday, a week and a half after racking up three straight victories to capture the Big East championship.

"We said all along going into the Big East tournament and the NCAA Tournament, somewhere along the line we were going to run into a couple of the teams that beat us," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "If you play enough good teams, you're going to run into some of the ones that beat you."

The winner of the UConn-Dartmouth game will play either sixth-seeded Florida State or 11th-seeded Richmond. After that, the regional heads to Kansas City for the Sweet 16.

"We have to play four games just like the three we played in the Big East tournament," Auriemma said. "We're going to play good defense, so [the key] is to stay healthy and shoot the ball well."

"We know the mind-set that is required to be successful. This is a new time, a new era," said junior forward Barbara Turner. "It's how you approach things now that will carry you through the tournament."

The four other teams playing two games in Storrs this weekend are seeded in the Philadelphia Regional -- No. 6 Temple against No. 11 Louisiana Tech and No. 3 Rutgers vs. No. 14 Hartford.

SEC powers LSU and Tennessee received No. 1 seeds, joined by ACC tournament champ North Carolina and Michigan State, a newcomer to that elite level.

The Big Ten tourney champs surpassed Stanford, the nation's No. 1-ranked team, to take the No. 1 spot in a loaded bracket.

Along with UConn, the Kansas City Regional includes the top-ranked Cardinal as the No. 2 seed and Kansas State, second in the Big 12 tournament, at No. 4.

"We're just kind of ready to play a game, to be honest," said Michigan State coach Joanne P. McCallie, wearing a wide grin with her jubilant team behind her. "We've had a week off and these girls are getting grumpy."

Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer looked none-too-pleased when she learned her team would be a No. 2 seed -- the first top-ranked team not to earn a No. 1 tournament seed in since Texas (1984).

"I have no reaction to that," VanDerveer said. "We're really excited to be in the tournament. I love coaching this team."

LSU (29-2) landed in the Chattanooga Regional, the closest site to its campus. Tennessee was No. 1 in Philadelphia and North Carolina was tops in Tempe.

The women's tournament scrapped the East, Mideast, Midwest and West designations for regionals and replaced them with the name of the city hosting the regional semifinals and finals.

LSU, which was ranked No. 1 much of the season, won the SEC regular-season championship, then dropped a 2-point decision to Tennessee the conference tournament final. Tennessee (26-4) was the regular-season runner-up, losing only to LSU in league play. It marks the 17th time in the 24 years of the NCAA women's Tournament that Tennessee has been a No. 1 seed. The Lady Vols have won six national championships, more than any other program, and have been in every NCAA Tournament.

Tennessee's first-round game will match coach Pat Summitt against one of her former point guards, Western Carolina coach Kellie Harper, who helped the Lady Vols win three straight NCAA titles from 1996-98. Tennessee's expected victory in that game would be No. 879 for Summitt, tying her with Dean Smith for the most wins in NCAA history.

Louisiana Tech is the only other school that has been in all 24 NCAA Tournaments. The Lady Techsters (20-9) made it this year as an at-large entry after losing to Rice in the finals of the Western Athletic Conference tournament.

The ACC led all leagues with seven selections -- North Carolina, Duke, Florida State, Maryland, North Carolina State, Virginia, and Virginia Tech. The Big 12 had six, while the Pac-10, in a bit of surprise, matched the SEC and Big Ten with five teams. The Big East had only four after getting eight last year.

Material from Associated Press was used in this report.