Nov. 30, 2006

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Full-session tickets for the 2007 BIG EAST Women's Basketball Championship Presented by Aéropostale are on sale as of Friday, Dec. 1 at 10 a.m. EST via all Ticketmaster outlets. The Conference will celebrate its 25th BIG EAST Women's Basketball Championship March 3-6 at the Hartford Civic Center.

Package tickets or admission to all 11 games of the championship are priced at $99.00 each, which is discounted one third of the face value. Ticket offices at all 16 BIG EAST institutions have had all-session packages on sale for several weeks.

To charge tickets by phone, call Ticketmaster at (860) 525-4500, (203) 624-0033 or (413) 733-2500. In addition, tickets can be purchased on-line by logging on to the Hartford Civic Center website at www.hartfordciviccenter.com or Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets can be purchased through all Ticketmaster outlets, including Macy's at Buckland Hills Mall (Manchester, Conn.) and West Farms Mall (West Hartford, Conn.). The two retail outlets are the closest locations to the Hartford Civic Center.

Tickets can also be purchased at the Hartford Civic Center box office as of Dec. 2 at 3 p.m. Weekday box office hours are Noon-5:00 p.m. For weekend events, the box office will open four hours prior to the start of an event. All ticket purchases are subject to additional convenience fees.

For group (10 or more) sales information and discounts, please contact (860) 548-2000.

The BIG EAST Women's Basketball 12-team Championship returns to the Hartford Civic Center for the fourth straight year. Hartford has embraced the annual event with the first three years resulting in unparalleled success for the Conference by leading all leagues in average attendance. Last year's tournament averaged 9,566 fans during the six sessions - an increase of 1,000-plus from the 2005 event - and of particular note were elevated first-round crowds.

The 2006 Championship was won by Connecticut, its 13th overall title in program history and second straight. The Huskies beat 12th-seeded West Virginia, 50-44. The Mountaineers' three straight upsets en route to the championship game added excitement to the tournament and thrilled all fans regardless of allegiance. The Mountaineers accomplishment marked the first time a 12-seed advanced to the title game.

All 11 of the 2007 BIG EAST Women's Basketball Championship games will be televised for the first time in league history. The first round games on March 3 will be aired as part of the BIG EAST Regional Television Package, which is broadcast via Regional Sports Networks (RSN) in BIG EAST markets. SportsNet New York (SNY) is the flagship station for the BIG EAST RSN Game of the Week during the regular season and will carry all four first-round tournament games as well. The quarterfinals on March 4 and semifinals on March 5 will be shown live on ESPNU, while the championship game will appear on ESPN/ESPN2 for the 13th straight year.

The BIG EAST is the largest and most diverse Division I conference in the country. It was formed in 1979 and represents the athletic interests of 16 member institutions including the University of Cincinnati, University of Connecticut, DePaul University, Georgetown University, University of Louisville, Marquette University, University of Notre Dame, University of Pittsburgh, Providence College, Rutgers University, St. John's University, Seton Hall University, University of South Florida, Syracuse University, Villanova University and West Virginia University. The BIG EAST Conference has captured 25 national championships in six different sports and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series. For more information on the Conference and its membership, please visit www.bigeast.org.