West Virginia made an impressive march through the Big 12 Conference tournament with back-to-back-to-back wins against the top three-seeded teams, including league regular season champion Baylor in the title game.
Now the Mountaineers, seeded sixth in the NCAA tournament's Bridgepoint Bracket, look to use that momentum to their advantage when they begin postseason play against Colonial Athletic Conference champion Elon College on Friday afternoon in a first-round game at the Xfinity Center in College Park, Md.
The winner of that contest will move on to face either No. 3 Maryland or No. 14 Bucknell in the second round on Sunday.
West Virginia was ranked No. 22 in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll released Monday. The Mountaineers (23-10) defeated No. 19 Oklahoma and No. 14 Texas to advance to the championship game of the Big 12 Tournament last week and then upset No. 2 Baylor to capture their first-ever Big 12 championship title.
The Mountaineers are making their 12th overall NCAA Championship appearance and the 10th under 16th-year head coach Mike Carey. West Virginia has reached the NCAA tournament in nine of the last 11 years and has participated in the postseason for a school-record 11 consecutive years.
"We had no idea where we would go," Carey said of his team's seeding and where they would play. "It was a surprise for us just like everybody else. At least it is close and we should have no trouble getting there.
"We played them last year," Carey said of Elon. "I looked at their schedule. Duke only beat them by six. They've played against some top-notch teams. I don't know a lot about them but. I looked at their record and their nonconference schedule. They played a lot of good teams."
West Virginia won its first Big 12 Championship title after making a historic run last week.
"I think my team is playing well right now -- and we are playing great team defense," Mountaineers center Lanay Montgomery said. "I have faith in my girls and we just need to take things one game at a time."
Eleventh-seeded Elon University women's basketball will make its NCAA Tournament debut. The Phoenix forged a 27-6 record this season and earned the first CAA regular season and tournament titles in program history. Their 27 wins are there most ever as a Division I team.
Elon has won 14 of its past 15 games, including eight straight.
"We are excited about going to the NCAAs -- it's very gratifying," Elon coach Charlotte Smith said. "We are familiar with West Virginia because we've played them twice in my head coaching career. Now we have to figure out how to get some synergy and what we can do to be competitive."
This season alone, Elon defeated five teams currently ranked in the RPI Top 100, including James Madison in the CAA tournament title game, Patriot League tournament champion Bucknell, regular season Mid-American Conference champion Central Michigan and Drexel twice while going toe to toe with ACC foes Duke, North Carolina and Wake Forest.
"It was overwhelming," Elon guard Shaylen Burnett said of seeing the team on the TV screen. "I'm just excited that we're actually in the Big Dance. It's something that Elon (has) never done. It's just a great feeling."
West Virginia and Elon will meet for the fifth time. The Mountaineers hold a 4-0 advantage over the Phoenix in a series which began in 2011. In their last meeting, WVU defeated Elon, 67-57 on Dec. 28, 2015.
