NORFOLK, VA (WTKR) — The Norfolk State women's basketball program waited more than two decades to finally make the NCAA Tournament again.
It waited about five minutes to see its name revealed on Selection Sunday.
The Spartans will open up The Big Dance as the 16th seed in the Greenville 1 Region facing top overall seed South Carolina. The Gamecocks, led by Virginia women's basketball legend Dawn Staley, are the reigning national champions and are a perfect 32-0.
"Intensity, toughness, pace, they're hard-working. They're a great basketball team," NSU head coach Larry Vickers said. "We're just excited to be on the same floor as them and get a mental test for where we are as a program."
The green and gold watch the NCAA Women's Selection Show together on Sunday at Roger Brown's in Portsmouth, the party shown on ESPN when the Spartans were announced.
Emotions are still sinking in for a Spartan team making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2002.
"I'm more excited today than I was yesterday," Vickers said. "Now it's starting to become real, we know where we're going and who we're playing and now it's time to prepare."
"When I woke, I laid in the bed and just watched the (MEAC) championship game over again," senior guard Camille Downs said. "It's my senior year, my last year, and I'm just very happy."
Focus is quickly shifting to the massive task at hand for Norfolk State. Only once in the history of the NCAA Women's Tournament has a 16 won a game over a top seed, Harvard holding off Stanford in 1998.
"They're the number one team in the country, we're the number one team in our conference," Downs said. "It'll be a good game. We're a defensive team and we're just going to see how it goes."
The game will tip-off at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina on Friday. The time for the start of the game is still to be determined.
