SEEDINGS SET FOR 2009 MEAC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT Sahar Abdur-Rashid 03/06/09 VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., March 5, 2009- The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) announced its women's pairings for the 2009 MEAC Basketball Tournament, March 9-14 at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum (LJVM) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. North Carolina A&T clinched the tournament's top seed after concluding the regular-season with a 15-1 mark in MEAC play. The Lady Aggies earned their second tournament first-round bye and will open up play on Wednesday, March 11 at 12:30 p.m. They will face the winner of the No. 8 Howard/No. 9 Bethune-Cookman matchup. The defending MEAC Tournament Champion Coppin State Lady Eagles clinched the second seed with a 61-53 win over Morgan State. The Lady Eagles, winners of three of the last four MEAC tournament titles, concluded conference play with a 12-4 record and will meet the winner of the No. 7 Florida A&M/No. 10 South Carolina State game on Wednesday, March 11 at 10 a.m. Delaware State (11-5) fell to the number three seed with a 55-52 loss to Maryland Eastern Shore. The Lady Hornets will take on the winner of No. 6 Hampton/No. 11 Norfolk State on Thursday, March 12 at Noon. Maryland Eastern Shore secured the number four seed with the victory and will take on No. 5 Morgan State at 2:30 p.m. Morgan State and Hampton both finished the conference schedule with a 9-7 mark. The Lady Bears secured the number five seed in a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Lady Pirates. Hampton will face cross-town rival Norfolk State, the number 11 seed, in a matchup at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10. Florida A&M defeated Bethune-Cookman, 57-50, and Howard topped Hampton, 69-49, to finish with similar 7-9 records in conference play. The Lady Rattlers won the lone meeting over Howard to secure the seventh seed, while the Lady Bison will compete as the eighth seed. Bethune-Cookman (4-12), South Carolina State (3-13) and Norfolk State (1-15) are seeded ninth through 11th, respectively. The 2009 MEAC Basketball Tournament tips off Tuesday, March 10, and will conclude on Saturday, March 14 with the men's and women's championship games. The women will tip off at 12 noon. The game will air taped delayed on ESPNU, March 15 at 11 a.m. The men's finale is set for 7 p.m. Saturday and will air live also on ESPNU. Check your local listings for channel information. Tickets for the tournament are on sale now at www.MEAChoops.com, at all Ticketmaster outlets, online at ticketmaster.com or at any MEAC member institution. 2009 MEAC Basketball Tournament March 9 - 14 Winston-Salem, NC (LJVM Coliseum) www.meachoops.com WOMEN'S BRACKET No. 10 South Carolina State GAME 1 Tues., March 10 11 a.m. GAME 6 Wed., March 11 No. 7 Florida A&M 10 a.m. No. 6 Hampton No. 2 Coppin State GAME 16 Semifinals GAME 3 Fri., March 13 Tues., March 10 2:30 p.m. 4 p.m. GAME 11 No. 11 Norfolk State Thurs., March 12 FINALS Noon No. 3 Delaware State GAME 19 Sat., March 14 Champion 12:00 p.m. No. 5 Morgan State GAME 12 ESPNU Thurs., March 12 2:30 p.m. No. 4 Maryland E. Shore GAME 15 No. 8 Howard Semifinals GAME 2 Fri., March 13 Tues., March 10 Noon 1:30 p.m. GAME 7 No. 9 Bethune-Cookman Wed., March 11 12:30 p.m. No. 1 North Carolina A&T 2009 MEAC Women's Basketball Championship Schedule Tuesday, March 10 - Opening Round 11:00 AM Game 1 - No. 7 Florida A&M vs. No. 10 South Carolina State 1:30 PM Game 2 - No. 8 Howard vs.No. 9 Bethune-Cookman 4:00 PM Game 3 - No. 6 Hampton vs. No. 11 Norfolk State Wednesday, March 11 - Opening Round/Quarterfinals 10 AM Game 6 - No. 2 Coppin State vs.Winner of Game 1 12:30 PM Game 7 - No. 1 North Carolina A&T vs. Winner of Game 2 Thursday, March 12 - Quarterfinals NOON Game 11 - No. 3 Delaware State vs. Winner of Game 3 2:30 PM Game 12 - No. 4 Maryland E. Shore vs.No. 5 Morgan State Friday, March 13 - Semifinals NOON Game 15 - Winner of Game 6 vs. Winner of Game 12 2:30 PM Game 16 - Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 11 Saturday, March 14 - Championship Final (ESPNU-taped delayed) 12:00 PM Game 19 - Winner of Game 15 vs. Winner of Game 16 MEAC MEN'S BRACKET SET FOR 2009 TOURNAMENT Bears Earn Top Seed for Second Straight Year Virginia Beach, Va., March 5, 2009 - The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) announced the men's pairings for the 2009 MEAC Basketball Tournament, March 10-14 at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum (LJVM) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Morgan State Bears clinched their second straight regular-season title with a 13-3 conference mark and will begin tournament play as the No. 1 seed. The Bears earned the early round bye and will play their first game on Wednesday, March 11 beginning at 7 p.m. They will face the winner of Florida A&M (No. 8) and Howard (No. 9), who will meet in the opening round, Tuesday, March 10 at 9 p.m. South Carolina State secured the No. 2 seed with a 10-6 mark. The Bulldogs defeated Winston-Salem State 86-73 in a non-conference matchup tonight. Competitive parity in the middle of conference standings resulted in two multiple ties with four-teams finishing with a 9-7 mark and three teams closing MEAC play at 6-10. Norfolk State (9-7) rose to the top of the four-way multiple conference tie-breaker and will enter tournament play as the No. 3 seed after defeating North Carolina A&T (9-7) earlier this evening. The Spartans will face the winner of the No. 6 Bethune-Cookman Wildcats /No. 11 Maryland E. Shore Hawks slated for 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 11. Bethune-Cookman, who also held a 9-7 conference mark, slipped to the number six slot despite a 49-46 win over Florida A&M tonight. North Carolina A&T (No. 4) and Coppin State (No. 5) round out the final slot of the four-way tie. The Aggies and Eagles will face off during the quarterfinal round on Thursday, March 12 beginning at 8 p.m. The Hampton Pirates (8-8) defeated the Howard Bison, 54-48, to remain the seventh seed. Florida A&M, Howard and Delaware State finished with similar 6-10 conference marks and were seeded as a result of conference tie- breaking procedures. Florida A&M (No. 8) fell to Bethune-Cookman and will matchup against No. 9 Howard in the opening round Tuesday, March 10 beginning at 9 p.m. Hampton and Delaware State will face off also on Tuesday beginning at 6:30 p.m. The Maryland E. Shore Hawks finished with a 3-13 mark and will wrap up the conference standings with an 11th place finish and tournament seed. The 2009 MEAC Basketball Tournament tips off Tuesday, March 10, and will conclude on Saturday, March 14 with the men's and women's championship games. The women will tip off at 12 noon. The game will air taped delayed on ESPNU, March 15 at 11 a.m. The men's finale is set for 7 p.m. Saturday and will air live also on ESPNU. Check your local listings for channel information. Tickets for the tournament are on sale now at www.MEAChoops.com, at all Ticketmaster outlets, online at ticketmaster.com or at any MEAC member institution. 222 Central Park Avenue, Suite 1150 Virginia Beach, VA Ph: (757) 416-7100 Media Relations Fax: (757) 416-7109 2009 MEAC Basketball Tournament March 9 - 14 Winston-Salem, NC (LJVM Coliseum) www.meachoops.com MEN'S BRACKET No. 10 Delaware State GAME 4 Tues., March 10 6:30 p.m. GAME 10 No. 7 Hampton Wed., March 11 9:30 p.m. No. 6 Bethune-Cookman No. 2 South Carolina St. GAME 18 GAME 8 Semifinals Wed., March 11 Fri., March 13 3 p.m. GAME 13 8 p.m. FINALS No. 11 Maryland E. Shore Thurs., March 12 6 p.m. GAME 20 No. 3 Norfolk State Sat., March 14 7:00 p.m. Champion No. 5 Coppin State ESPNU GAME 14 Thurs., March 12 8 p.m. No. 8 Florida A&M No. 4 North Carolina A&T GAME 17 GAME 5 Semifinals Tues., March 10 Fri., March 13 9 p.m. GAME 9 6 p.m. No. 9 Howard Wed., March 11 7 p.m. No. 1 Morgan State 2009 MEAC Men's Basketball Championship Schedule Tuesday, March 10 - Opening Round 6:30 PM Game 4 - No. 7 Hampton vs. No. 10 Delaware State 9:00 PM Game 5 - No. 8 Florida A&M vs. No. 9 Howard Wednesday, March 11 - Opening Round/Quarterfinals 3:00 PM Game 8 - No. 6 Bethune-Cookman vs. No. 11 Maryland E. Shore 7:00 PM Game 9 - No. 1 Morgan State vs. Winner of Game 5 9:30 PM Game 10 - No. 2 South Carolina State vs. Winner of Game 4 Thursday, March 12 - Quarterfinals 6:00 PM Game 13 - No. 3 Norfolk State vs. Winner of Game 8 8:00 PM Game 14 - No. 4 North Carolina A&T vs. No. 5 Coppin State Friday, March 13 - Semifinals 6:00 PM Game 17 - Winner of Game 9 vs. Winner of Game 14 8:00 PM Game 18 - Winner of Game 10 vs. Winner of Game 13 Saturday, March 14 - Championship Final (ESPNU) 3:30 PM North Carolina Central vs.Winston-Salem State Bonus Game 7:00 PM Game 20 - Winner of Game 17 vs. Winner of Game 18