JSU women happy to receive respect with No. 15 seed

There were distinctly different reactions from the Jackson State women's basketball team as the Lady Tigers watched the NCAA Tournament announcements inside the Walter Payton Center on Monday.

Observers would have thought JSU's name was called when a graphic showed No. 1 seed Connecticut playing No. 16 Cornell in Bridgeport, Conn. Early predictions had Jackson State playing the nation's top team and there was a sense of thrilled relief in the air.

"I was like, 'Oh Lord', that's a tough team to beat," JSU guard LaSharee Christian said about UConn. "Once we saw Connecticut, it was like now we don't know where we're going to be."

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Jackson State's Lady Tigers crash NCAA party

Jackson State earns first berth since 1995 with upset of regular season champion

BIRMINGHAM, AL - Denise Taylor has coached on the professional level as the first coach of the WNBA's Utah Starrz. The seventh-year Jackson State coach has been named coach of the year in two different college conferences. She's even won the Southwestern Athletic Conference regular season four times.

But Taylor has never been to the NCAA Tournament - until now.

The Jackson State women will be one of 64 teams to compete in the Big Dance after a 63-61 upset of regular season champion Prairie View A&M in the SWAC Tournament at Fair Park Arena on Saturday.

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