Villanova women's basketball team to play Cleveland State in NCAA Tourney
VILLANOVA, Pa. (CBS) -- For the first time in nearly 50 years on Selection Sunday for March Madness, no men's college basketball team from the Philadelphia area made it.
But when the women's teams were announced Sunday night, there was plenty of celebrating on the Main Line.
Villanova's women's basketball team learned they will be playing Cleveland State in the first round 2023 NCAA Tournament.
"You see your name pop up, you see the reaction of the team," Villanova head coach Denise Dillon said.
Fans, players and coaches celebrated as Nova nation earned home court advantage in both the first and second rounds.
"Extremely excited that we're here at home. The support that we've have the crowds have been so great, so we're counting on a sellout," Dillon said.
Dillon says her team will be ready for the big time nerves of the big dance.
"Every day at practice we talk about handling pressure, just preparing for whoever you are going to face," Dillon said.
"You're just waiting, everything your heart just stops, like 'Is it us yet?'" Senior forward Maddy Siegrist said.
For the first time since 1977, no local men's team has made it into March Madness, putting the Wildcats on center stage -- something not lost on Siegrist.
"Women's basketball is really getting a lot of attention that it deserves, I'm just so glad we can be a part of it," Siegrist said.
Siegrist, the leading scorer in all of women's basketball, says she's ready to continue to elevate the program as she and her teammates eye a first-ever national championship.
"Success would look like stringing a couple of wins together in March," she said. "I think we have what it takes."
Villanova will play at home Saturday.
You can watch all the madness on CBS3.
First round of the men's tournament starts Thursday at 12:15 p.m. on CBS3, while the first round for the women's starts Friday.
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