ESPN Networks’ NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament Schedule Features All 63 Games
Announcer Dave O’Brien Joins 2010 Final Four Commentator Lineup
To tweet this release – http://bit.ly/9IDzmh
ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN360.com and ESPN FULL COURT will once again present all 63 games from the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament, for the eighth consecutive year. During the first and second rounds, ESPN and ESPN2 will present 48 games within 12 telecast windows, while ESPN FULL COURT, the out-of-market pay-per-view package, will offer complete game telecasts of all 48 games. The final 15 games from the regional semifinals, regional finals and Women’s Final Four will have national telecast windows on ESPN or ESPN2. In all, ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to present 63 NCAA Tournament games within 27 telecast windows.
Also, NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament content will be featured across other ESPN entities, including SportsCenter, ESPN.com, ESPNEWS, ESPN Radio, ESPN International, ESPN Mobile and more.
For the third year in a row, ESPN360.com, ESPN’s broadband digital sports network, will offer complete coverage of all 63 games, while ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network, will provide supplemental coverage during the first and second rounds. ESPNU will offer six of the early-round matchups, all of which are also offered regionally and/or as part of whip-around coverage on ESPN or ESPN2.
Starting with the regional semifinals, ESPN and ESPN2 will offer every game in high definition. In addition to the Women’s Final Four, all four regional sites and women’s basketball studio specials will be available on either ESPN HD or ESPN2 HD.
Throughout the tourney, ESPNEWS will provide pregame and postgame news conferences, pregame and postgame live shots, and interviews with key players and coaches. ESPNEWS will also have live look-ins as compelling games unfold on the road to the Women’s Final Four in San Antonio.
Continuing a popular trend started in 2009, former Connecticut standout and 1995 national champion Rebecca Lobo will provide behind-the-scenes insight into the world of women’s college basketball on Twitter through the NCAA Women’s Final Four in San Antonio. She’ll also share off-court thoughts about her day-to-day experiences and travels at http://twitter.com/RebeccaLobo.
Trey Wingo will return for his fourth year to host ESPN’s studio coverage for the NCAA Women’s Tournament alongside analysts Kara Lawson and Carolyn Peck. On April 4 and 6, Wingo, Lawson and Peck will take their show on the road as they host the network’s two on-site studio programs from the site of the 2010 Women’s Final Four from the Alamodome in San Antonio. Dave O’Brien, Doris Burke, Lobo and Holly Rowe will serve as the game commentators in San Antonio. A complete roster of ESPN’s talent assignments for the NCAA Women’s Tournament is listed below.
ESPN.com will provide comprehensive coverage throughout the tournament, including insight and analysis from Mechelle Voepel, Graham Hays and Charlie Creme, as well as recaps for every game and video highlights.
ESPN International will provide coverage of the national semifinal games along with the national championship to fans on ESPN in Latin America, ESPN Africa, ESPN Middle East, ESPN Pac Rim, ESPN Australia HD, ESPN Brazil, ESPN Brazil HD, ESPN & ESPN 2 Caribbean and ESPN America (Europe).
SportsCenter will present studio reports with Wingo, Lawson and Peck, with reporter Shelley Smith providing live reports from San Antonio.
First and Second Rounds – Regionalization & Home Market Protection
Whip-around Coverage: For the first two rounds, multiple games (as many as four) will begin within one telecast window on ESPN or ESPN2. Games will have staggered tip times so each window will start with one particular game. During those windows, the networks will “whip around” to the best action from different games for viewers across most of the nation (everywhere but the home markets of the competing teams). The networks plan frequent switches to and updates from other games, as the action dictates.
Regionalization/Home Market Protection: In the home markets of the competing teams, ESPN or ESPN2 will primarily televise the game of local interest. While constant updates from the other games will be provided, the networks, for the most part, will generally not switch to another game during live action, thereby establishing home market protection in standard definition. ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD, however, will participate in the whip-around coverage.
ESPNU: ESPNU will offer coverage of six early-round matchups, all of which are offered regionally and/or as part of whip-around coverage on ESPN and ESPN2. Four first-round games will be featured, while two second-round games will be televised.
ESPN FULL COURT to Feature All Early-Round Action: Viewers who want all early-round games in their entirety can receive them through ESPN FULL COURT, the out-of-market pay-per-view package. ESPN FULL COURT, available to cable and satellite customers, plans to showcase every first- and second-round game, a supplement to ESPN and ESPN2’s coverage (fans can order ESPN FULL COURT by calling local cable or satellite provider).
ESPN & ESPN2’s NCAA Women’s Tournament Specials
Date | Time (ET) | Special | Network |
Tue, Mar 16 | 3 p.m. | ESPNU Coaches Spotlight | ESPNU |
7 p.m. | 2010 NCAA Women’s Basketball Bracket Special | ESPN / ESPN HD | |
Sat, Mar 20 | 2 p.m. | College Basketball Scoreboard | ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD |
4:30 p.m. | College Basketball Scoreboard |
“ |
|
10 p.m. | College Basketball Scoreboard |
“ |
|
Sun, Mar 21 | 12:30 a.m. | College Basketball Scoreboard |
“ |
2 p.m. | College Basketball Scoreboard |
“ |
|
4:30 p.m. | College Basketball Scoreboard | ESPN / ESPN HD | |
9 p.m. | College Basketball Scoreboard | ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD | |
11:30 p.m. | College Basketball Scoreboard |
“ |
|
Mon, Mar 22 | 9 p.m. | College Basketball Scoreboard |
“ |
Tue, Mar 23 | 9 p.m. | College Basketball Scoreboard |
“ |
11:30 p.m. | College Basketball Scoreboard |
“ |
|
Sat, Mar 27 | 2 p.m. | College Basketball Scoreboard | ESPN / ESPN HD |
4:30 p.m. | College Basketball Scoreboard | ESPN / ESPN HD | |
11 p.m. | NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Special | ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD | |
Sun, Mar 28 | 2 p.m. | NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Special | ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD |
4:30 p.m. | NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Special | ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD | |
9:30 p.m. | College Basketball Scoreboard | ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD | |
Sun, Apr 4 | 6:30 p.m. | 2010 NCAA Women’s Final Four Special | ESPN / ESPN HD |
9 p.m. | College Basketball Scoreboard |
“ |
|
Tue, Apr 6 | 7:30 p.m. | 2010 NCAA Women’s Championship Special |
“ |
2010 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Telecast Schedule (Times subject to change)
Date | Time (ET) | Matchup | Network |
Sat, Mar 20 | Noon | First Round#10 Hartford vs. #7 LSU (Durham, N.C.)
#11 Princeton vs. #6 St. John’s (Tallahassee, Fla.) #16 Austin Peay vs. #1 Tennessee (Knoxville, Tenn.) #12 Bowling Green vs. #5 Michigan St. (Louisville, Ky.) |
ESPN2 / ESPN360.com |
Approx 30 minutes after noon games | #15 Hampton vs. #2 Duke (Durham)#14 Louisiana Tech vs. #3 Florida State (Tallahassee)
#9 TCU vs. #8 Dayton (Knoxville) #13 Liberty vs. #4 Kentucky (Louisville) |
ESPN2 / ESPN360.com | |
8 p.m. | #13 Chattanooga vs. #4 Oklahoma State (Tempe, Ariz.)#9 Rutgers vs. #8 Iowa (Stanford, Calif.)
#12 Marist vs. #5 Georgetown (Berkeley, Calif.) #15 Portland State vs. #2 Texas A&M (Seattle) |
ESPN2 / ESPN360.com | |
Approx 30 minutes after 8 p.m. games | #12 Tulane vs. #5 Georgia (Tempe)#16 UC Riverside vs. #1 Stanford (Stanford)
#13 Fresno State vs. #4 Baylor (Berkeley) #10 North Carolina vs. #7 Gonzaga (Seattle) |
ESPN2 / ESPN360.com | |
Sun, Mar 21 | Noon | #11 DePaul vs. #6 Vanderbilt (Cincinnati)#16 Southern vs. #1 Connecticut (Norfolk, Va.)
#10 Vermont vs. #7 Wisconsin (Notre Dame, Ind.) #15 St. Francis (Pa.) vs. #2 Ohio State (Pittsburgh) |
ESPN2 / ESPN360.com |
2:30 p.m. | #14 East Tennessee St. vs. #3 Xavier (Cincinnati)#9 James Madison vs. #8 Temple (Norfolk)
#15 Cleveland State vs. #2 Notre Dame (Notre Dame) #10 Middle Tenn. St. vs. #7 Mississippi St. (Pittsburgh) |
ESPN / ESPN360.com | |
7 p.m. | #16 Northern Iowa vs. #1 Nebraska (Minneapolis)#12 Green Bay vs. #5 Virginia (Ames, Iowa)
#11 San Diego State vs. #6 Texas (Austin, Texas) #11 Ark.-Little Rock vs. #6 Georgia Tech (Norman, Okla.) |
ESPN2 / ESPN360.com | |
Approx 30 minutes after 7 p.m. games | #9 North Carolina State vs. #8 UCLA (Minneapolis)#13 Lehigh vs. #4 Iowa State (Ames)
#14 Lamar vs. #3 West Virginia (Austin) #14 South Dakota State vs. #3 Oklahoma (Norman) |
ESPN2 / ESPN360.com | |
Mon, Mar 22 | 7 p.m. | Second Round from Durham, Tallahassee, Knoxville, Louisville | ESPN2 / ESPN360.com |
9:30 p.m. | Second Round from Tempe, Stanford, Berkeley, Seattle | ESPN2 / ESPN360.com | |
Tue, Mar 23 | 7 p.m. | Second Round from Cincinnati, Norfolk, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh | ESPN2 / ESPN360.com |
9:30 p.m. | Second Round from Minneapolis, Ames, Austin, Norman | ESPN2 / ESPN360.com | |
Sat, Mar 27 | Noon | Regional semifinal (Memphis, Tenn.) | ESPN HD / ESPN360.com |
2 p.m. | Regional semifinal (Memphis) | ESPN HD / ESPN360.com | |
9 p.m. | Regional semifinal (Sacramento, Calif) | ESPN HD / ESPN360.com | |
11:30 p.m. | Regional semifinal (Sacramento) | ESPN2 HD / ESPN360.com | |
Sun, Mar 28 | Noon | Regional semifinal (Dayton, Ohio) | ESPN HD / ESPN360.com |
2:30 p.m. | Regional semifinal (Dayton) | ESPN2 HD / ESPN360.com | |
7:30 p.m. | Regional semifinal (Kansas City, Mo.) | ESPN2 HD / ESPN360.com | |
9:30 p.m. | Regional semifinal (Kansas City) | ESPN2 HD / ESPN360.com | |
Mon, Mar 29 | 7 p.m. | Regional final (Memphis) | ESPN HD / ESPN360.com |
9 p.m. | Regional final (Sacramento) | ESPN HD / ESPN360.com | |
Tue, Mar 30 | 7 p.m. | Regional final (Dayton) | ESPN HD / ESPN360.com |
9 p.m. | Regional final (Kansas City) | ESPN HD / ESPN360.com | |
Sun, Apr 4 | 7 p.m. | National semifinal: San Antonio, Alamodome | ESPN HD / ESPN360.com |
9 p.m. | National semifinal: San Antonio, Alamodome | ESPN HD / ESPN360.com | |
Tue, Apr 6 | 8:30 p.m. | National championship: San Antonio, Alamodome | ESPN HD / ESPN360.com |
All 63 games available on ESPN360.com
All first- and second-round games available in their entirety on ESPN FULL COURT
2010 Women’s NCAA Tournament Commentators
First Round: March 20 & 22
Site | Play-by-play | Analyst |
Durham, N.C. | Beth Mowins | Stephanie Ready |
Knoxville, Tenn. | Dave O’Brien | Doris Burke |
Louisville | Justin Kutcher | Rebecca Lobo |
Tallahassee, Fla. | Jon Sciambi | Abby Waner |
Stanford, Calif. | Terry Gannon | Mary Murphy |
Berkeley, Calif. | Cara Capuano | Kayte Christensen |
Seattle | Allen Hopkins | Krista Blunk |
Tempe, Ariz. | Dave Pasch | Brenda VanLengen |
First Round: March 21 & 23
Site | Play-by-play | Analyst |
Ames, Iowa | Bob Picozzi | Jimmy Dykes |
Austin, Texas | Carter Blackburn | LaChina Robinson |
Cincinnati | Bob Wischusen | Stephanie White |
Minneapolis | Clay Matvick | Leslie Hill |
Norfolk, Va. | Marc Kestecher | Stephen Bardo |
Norman, Okla. | Dan MacLaughlin | Fran Fraschilla |
Notre Dame, Ind. | Eric Collins | Brooke Weisbrod |
Pittsburgh | Pam Ward | Deb Antonelli |
Regionals: March 27& 29
Site | Play-by-play | Analyst | Reporter |
Memphis, Tenn. | Dave O’Brien | Doris Burke | Holly Rowe |
Sacramento, Calif. | Dave Pasch | Mary Murphy | Cara Capuano |
Regionals: March 28 & 30
Site | Play-by-play | Analyst | Reporter |
Dayton, Ohio | Bob Wischusen | Stephanie White | Rebecca Lobo |
Kansas City, Mo. | Pam Ward | Deb Antonelli | Beth Mowins |
Women’s Final Four: April 4 & 6
Site | Play-by-play | Analyst | Reporters |
San Antonio | Dave O’Brien | Doris Burke | Rebecca Lobo, Holly Rowe |
-30-