Colleges

Big East tournament

No. 8 seed USF vs. No. 9 Seton Hall

By GREG AUMAN
Published March 3, 2007

When/where: 2 p.m. today; Hartford (Conn.) Civic Center

TV/radio: Catch 47; 860-AM

Records: USF 19-10, 9-7; Seton Hall 18-10, 9-7.

Today's other games: No. 5 seed Louisville vs. No. 12 St. John's, noon; No. 7 Notre Dame vs. No. 10 DePaul, 6 p.m.; No. 6 Pittsburgh vs. No. 11 Cincinnati, 8.

Notable: The USF-Seton Hall winner is expected to be the eighth Big East team in the NCAA field, while USF would have only a remote chance of sneaking in as an unprecedented ninth team, based on the Bulls' strength of schedule. The winner gets to play top-seeded Connecticut on Sunday; the Huskies have won the past two Big East tournaments at their home away from home. ... USF beat the Pirates 60-51 Monday, and Seton Hall has the third-highest RPI rating of the teams the Bulls have beaten, behind Louisville and Notre Dame. ... Senior Jessica Dickson, USF's all-time leading scorer, is shooting 31 percent in her past seven games, dropping her to 37.7 percent on the season, a career low. Senior center Nalini Miller, averaging 13.2 points over the last 13 games, would need 22 points to raise her season average to 10.0 points per game. ... The Bulls are 3-22 all-time in conference tournaments, with a 1-4 mark under Jose Fernandez.

[Last modified March 3, 2007, 01:15:08]