TOWSON, Md. - In its first program appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the No. 15 seeded Towson University women's basketball team will face No. 2 seeded UConn on Friday at approximately 6:30 p.m. in a first round matchup.

The game will be televised on ESPN2 while the Towson Sports Network will be streaming radio with Ben Rosenbaum on the call. Tickets to Friday's game are available here for the Towson section, or at the box office on site. The Tigers and Huskies will face off at the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut.

Towson is coming off the first program championship in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) and the first conference title since the 1983-84 season.

Making History
Friday will mark the first time a Towson women's basketball team has competed in the NCAA Tournament. The Towson men's basketball program has seen two appearances in the tournament, putting the tally at three after Friday for Tigers competing in their respective "big dance." After winning the CAA Championship on Saturday afternoon, Towson completed its first 20-win season since 2007-08, only the second team in program history to amass 20 victories. Only three Tiger teams have won 19 or more games in a season.

UConn Series History
UConn and Towson have met just once before, in December of 2011. The Tigers played in Connecticut in nonconference action and fell to the Huskies at the XL Center in Hartford. This will be the second meeting all-time between the teams, and the first tilt in postseason basketball between them. 

Scouting the Tigers
Towson is coming off three straight wins to capture the CAA crown. The Tigers are led by redshirt sophomore Kionna Jeter with 17.3 points per game while junior Nukiya Mayo is averaging 14.5 a night. Mayo also leads the team in rebounds with 7.6 per game while classmate Q. Murray is averaging 4.4 assists per game to lead the team. Ryan Holder leads the team in both field goal and three-point field goal percentage, shooting 46.4 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. Jeter holds the team-high in free throw shooting with 81.6 percent from the line, and in steals with 2.5 per game. Freshman Janeen Camp leads in blocks with 52 on the year, 1.6 per game. As a team the Tigers are averaging 67.4 points per game.

Scouting the Huskies
UConn is coming off its sixth consecutive American Athletic Conference (AAC) Championship and reached the 30-win plateau for the 13th consecutive season. The Huskies are led by Napheesa Collier with 20.9 points per game, she also leads the team in rebounds with 10.5 on average. Crystal Dangerfield is leading the team in assists with 6.1 per game and steals with 1.6 per game. Collier holds the team-high field goal percentage with 61.4 and leads the team in blocks with 47 on the year. As a team UConn is averaging 82.6 points per game. The Huskies have two losses on their season, a 68-57 loss at then-No. 8 Baylor and a 78-69 loss at then-No. 3 Louisville, both teams are a No. 1 seeds in the Tournament. Nationally UConn is second in scoring margin (28.0) and fewest fouls (384 on the year), and leads the country in personal fouls per game (11.6).

Tigers in National Statistics
After a historic season, Towson remains in the top-10 in a few categories nationally. Towson is No. 2 in the nation in blocks per game (6.3) and total blocked shots (203). The Tigers are also seventh in the nation in offensive rebounds per game (17) and 10th in total rebounds (1367). In the nation's top-20, Towson is 12th in free throw attempts (681) and 16th in rebounds per game (42.2). Kionna Jeter remains in the top-30 in steals, she is 27th in total steals with 82. 

How to Say It: TOWSON
TOWSON is pronounced TOW like towel + Son.

IT IS NOT: TOE-son, Townson, Towsond, Townsend, Townsen, Towzen. One N, no Z.
We are Towson University, no longer Towson State University (and haven't been since July 1, 1997).
Our mascot is Doc The Tiger, named after Donald "Doc" Minnegan, long-time soccer coach and athletics department administrator. Towson became the "Tigers" in 1962 after John Schuerholz (yes, the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame General Manager) pushed for the name change from the "Towson College Knights".

CAA Championship in Review
Last week the Tigers made history by advancing to the CAA title game and then capturing it. The historic week was led by Nukiya Mayo who averaged 16 points per game and 7.6 rebounds per game, leading to her Most Outstanding Player award following the trophy ceremony on Saturday. Kionna Jeter was named to the CAA All-Tournament team, she averaged 16.3 points per game, had a double-double against Delaware and grabbed 21 rebounds and nine steals. Towson held all three of its opponents to less than 50 points and set a record for most points in a quarter at the CAA Championship with 29 in the second period against Hofstra.

Conference Highlights
For several weeks this year, Towson led the league in scoring while Kionna Jeter led the league in scoring for a majority of the season. Jeter was the CAA's leader in steals, averaging 2.5 per game. Her season-high seven steals against Hofstra are the fourth most by CAA a player this season. The Tigers' two games with 12 blocks are tied for the second most by a team this year, while 40 free throw attempts against LaSalle are first in by a team in the league. Jeter's 32 points against the explorer's are the fifth most by a player this season. Janeen Camp's six blocks at Marshall are the fourth most by a player this year.

Richardson CAA Coach of the Year
With the most postseason awards collected by a Towson women's basketball team, head coach Diane Richardson was named CAA Coach of the Year. Kionna Jeter was named to the All-CAA First Team, Nukiya Mayo to the All-CAA Second Team and Janeen Camp to the CAA All-Rookie Team. Jeter and Mayo were both named to the CAA All-Defensive Team. This was Towson's first Coach of the Year award since joining the CAA. Richardson completed her second season of being a head coach at Towson after guiding her team to a third-place conference finish and earning a first-round bye at the league tournament.

Turnaround Year
With a 20-12 record, Towson has more than doubled the amount of wins from last year. As of Tuesday afternoon that was tied for the sixth-best turnaround in the nation by an NCAA women's basketball team. Towson swept three conference opponents in Hofstra, Charleston and Elon. The Tigers also had their best home record in two years and saw the most wins in conference action since 2007-08. Only three Towson teams have recorded 19 or more wins.