We have the schedule of games, tip times and announcing assignments for the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament. ESPN and ESPN2 will carry the games as will ESPN3.com. An interesting note, three men named Dave, Flemming, O’Brien and Pasch will call the regionals for the Tournament. Pam Ward is the lone woman calling play-by-play fr a regional. Ward, Beth Mowins, Cara Capuano and Holly Rowe will call games from a sub-regional. Let’s look at the schedule below, then I’ll provide what ESPN is saying about the Women’s Tournament after a jump break.
2011 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Schedule
(All times are subject to change)
| Date | Time (ET) | Matchup | Network |
| Saturday, Mar 19 | 11 a.m. | First Round No. 12 Bowling Green vs. No. 5 Georgia Tech (Columbus, Ohio) No. 10 Marist vs. No. 7 Iowa State (Durham, N.C.) No. 16 Stetson vs. No. 1 Tennessee No. 11 Dayton vs. No. 6 Penn State |
ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD / ESPN3.com |
| Approx. 30 minutes after completion of 11 a.m. games |
No. 13 Central Florida vs. No. 4 Ohio State (Columbus, Ohio) No. 15 Tennessee-Martin vs. No. 2 Duke (Durham, N.C.) No. 9 Texas vs. No. 8 Marquette (Knoxville, Tenn.) No. 14 Navy vs. No. 3 DePaul |
ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD / ESPN3.com | |
| 4 p.m. | No. 12 Fresno State vs. No. 5 North Carolina* (Albuquerque, N.M.) No. 10 Temple vs. No. 7 Arizona State No. 11 Gonzaga vs. No. 6 Iowa (Spokane, Wash.) No. 9 St. John’s vs. No. 8 Texas Tech |
ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD / ESPN3.com | |
| Approx. 30 minutes after completion of 4 p.m. games |
No. 13 Hampton vs. No. 4 Kentucky (Albuquerque, N.M.) No. 15 Utah vs. No. 2 Notre Dame No. 14 Montana vs. No. 3 UCLA No. 16 UC Davis vs. No. 1 Stanford |
ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD / ESPN3.com | |
| Sunday, Mar 20 | Noon | First Round No. 14 Gardner-Webb vs. No. 3 Miami (FL) (Charlottesville, Va.) No. 10 Vanderbilt vs. No. 7 Louisville No. 13 Saint Francis (PA) vs. No. 4 Maryland (College Park, Md.) No. 16 Hartford vs. No. 1 Connecticut |
ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD / ESPN3.com |
| Approx. 30 minutes after completion of Noon games |
No. 11 James Madison vs. No. 6 Oklahoma (Charlottesville, Va.) No. 15 South Dakota State vs. No. 2 Xavier No. 12 Princeton vs. No. 5 Georgetown No. 9 Purdue vs. No. 8 Kansas St.* (Storrs, Conn.) |
ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD / ESPN3.com | |
| 5 p.m. | No. 14 Samford vs. No. 3 Florida State (Auburn, Ala.) No. 15 McNeese State vs. No. 2 Texas A&M* No. 9 Virginia vs. No. 8 Houston (Waco, Texas) No. 12 Arkansas-Little Rock vs. No. 5 Green Bay |
ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD / ESPN3.com | |
| Approx. 30 minutes after completion of 5 p.m. games |
No. 11 Middle Tennessee vs. No. 6 Georgia (Auburn, Ala.) No. 10 Louisiana Tech vs. No. 7 Rutgers* No. 16 Prairie View vs. No. 1 Baylor No. 13 Northern Iowa vs. No. 4 Michigan State (Wichita, Kan.) |
ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD / ESPN3.com | |
| Monday, Mar 21 | 7 p.m. | Second Round
(Columbus, Ohio, Durham, N.C., Knoxville, Tenn.,University Park, Pa.) |
ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD / ESPN3.com |
| 9:30 p.m. | Second Round
(Albuquerque, N.M., Salt Lake City, Utah, Spokane, Wash.,Stanford, Calif.) |
ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD / ESPN3.com | |
| Tuesday, Mar 22 | 7 p.m. | Second Round
(Charlottesville, Va., Cincinnati, Ohio, College Park, Md.,Storrs, Conn.) |
ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD / ESPN3.com |
| 9:30 p.m. | Second Round
(Auburn, Ala., Shreveport, La., Waco, Texas,Wichita, Kan.) |
ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD / ESPN3.com | |
| Saturday, Mar 26 | Noon | Regional Semifinal (Dayton, Ohio) | ESPN / ESPN HD / ESPN3.com |
| 2:30 p.m. | Regional Semifinal (Dayton, Ohio) | ESPN / ESPN HD / ESPN3.com | |
| 9 p.m. | Regional Semifinal (Spokane, Wash.) | ESPN / ESPN HD / ESPN3.com | |
| 11:30 p.m. | Regional Semifinal (Spokane, Wash.) | ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD / ESPN3.com | |
| Sunday, Mar 27 | Noon | Regional Semifinal (Philadelphia, Pa.) | ESPN / ESPN HD / ESPN3.com |
| 2:30 p.m. | Regional Semifinal (Philadelphia, Pa.) | ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD / ESPN3.com | |
| 4:30 p.m. | Regional Semifinal (Dallas, Texas) | ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD / ESPN3.com | |
| 7 p.m. | Regional Semifinal (Dallas, Texas) | ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD / ESPN3.com | |
| Monday, Mar 28 | 7 p.m. | Regional Final (Dayton, Ohio) | ESPN / ESPN HD / ESPN3.com |
| 9 p.m. | Regional Final (Spokane, Wash.) | ESPN / ESPN HD / ESPN3.com | |
| Tuesday, Mar 29 | 7 p.m. | Regional Final (Philadelphia, Pa.) | ESPN / ESPN HD / ESPN3.com |
| 9 p.m. | Regional Final (Dallas, Texas) | ESPN / ESPN HD / ESPN3.com | |
| Sunday, Apr 3 | 7 p.m. | National Semifinal (Indianapolis, Ind.) | ESPN / ESPN HD / ESPN3.com |
| 9:30 p.m. | National Semifinal (Indianapolis, Ind.) | ESPN / ESPN HD / ESPN3.com | |
| Tuesday, Apr 5 | 8:30 p.m. | National Final (Indianapolis, Ind.) | ESPN / ESPN HD / ESPN3.com |
* – also available in its entirety on ESPNU and ESPNU HD
2011 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Commentators
First & Second Round
Saturday, March 19 & Monday, March 21
| Site | Play-by-Play | Analyst |
| Columbus, Ohio | Jon Sciambi | Stephen Bardo |
| Durham, N.C. | Dave Flemming | Kayte Christensen |
| Knoxville, Tenn. | Dave O’Brien | Debbie Antonelli |
| University Park, Pa. | Justin Kutcher | Brenda VanLengen |
| Albuquerque, N.M. | Clay Matvick | Tamika Raymond |
| Salt Lake City, Utah | Holly Rowe | Sean Farnham |
| Spokane, Wash. | Marc Kestecher | Krista Blunk |
| Stanford, Calif. | Dave Pasch | Mary Murphy |
Sunday, March 20 & Tuesday, March 22
| Site | Play-by-Play | Analyst |
| Charlottesville, Va. | Beth Mowins | Rosalyn Gold-Onwude |
| Cincinnati, Ohio | Bob Wischusen | Brooke Weisbrod |
| College Park, Md. | Bob Picozzi | Rebecca Lobo |
| Storrs, Conn. | Mark Jones | Doris Burke |
| Auburn, Ala. | Cara Capuano | LaChina Robinson |
| Shreveport, La. | Carter Blackburn | Fran Fraschilla |
| Waco, Texas | Pam Ward | Stephanie White |
| Wichita, Kan. | Dan McLaughlin | Abby Waner |
Regionals
Saturday, March 26 & Monday, March 28
| Site | Play-by-Play | Analyst | Reporter |
| Dayton, Ohio | Dave Flemming | Rebecca Lobo | Todd Harris |
| Spokane, Wash. | Dave Pasch | Debbie Antonelli | Heather Cox |
Sunday, March 27 & Tuesday, March 29
| Site | Play-by-Play | Analyst | Reporter |
| Philadelphia, Pa. | Dave O’Brien | Doris Burke | Holly Rowe |
| Dallas, Texas | Pam Ward | Stephanie White | Beth Mowins |
Final Four
Sunday, April 3 & Tuesday, April 5
| Site | Play-by-Play | Analyst | Reporter |
| Indianapolis, Ind. | Dave O’Brien | Doris Burke | Holly Rowe & |
| Rebecca Lobo |
After the jump, ESPN’s comments about the Tournament.
And here’s what ESPN is saying about its coverage plans.
ESPN Networks to Air All 63 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship Games
All Games Available in High Definition for First TimeESPN networks will air all 63 games of the 2011 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship for the ninth consecutive year – and for the first time every game will be shown in high definition, beginning Saturday, March 19 and running through the NCAA national championship game on Tuesday, April 5. During the first two rounds, ESPN2 will present 48 games within 12 telecast windows in a whip-around format with home market protection. ESPN FULL COURT, the pay-per-view package, will offer complete games as a supplement to ESPN2’s coverage. The final 15 games, beginning with the Regional Semifinals, will have national telecast windows on ESPN or ESPN2.
ESPN3.com, ESPN’s broadband digital sports network, will offer complete coverage of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship for the fourth straight year.
Trey Wingo will return for his fifth year as host of ESPN’s studio coverage of the NCAA Championship, along with analysts Kara Lawson and Carolyn Peck. The trio will host the network’s two on-site studio programs from Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, home to the 2011 NCAA Women’s Final Four, on April 3 and 5. Dave O’Brien and Doris Burke will serve as game commentators, with Rebecca Lobo and Holly Rowe reporting. A complete roster of ESPN’s commentator assignments for the NCAA Championship is listed below.
The 2011 tournament marks the 30th anniversary of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship, and ESPN will run historical vignettes throughout the tournament.
In addition, NCAA Championship content will be featured across other ESPN entities, including SportsCenter, ESPNEWS, ESPN.com, ESPN Radio, ESPN Mobile, ESPNnetworks.com and more. Additional highlights:
- ESPN.com’s Mechelle Voepel, Graham Hays and Charlie Crème will provide news, insight, analysis and commentary on the latest developments in women’s college hoops throughout the entire NCAA Championship;
- ESPN International Networks will provide coverage of the national semifinals along with the title game to fans on ESPN Pac Rim, ESPN 2 Australia, ESPN Mid East, ESPN Brazil HD, ESPN Latin North, ESPN Latin South, ESPN Caribbean and ESPN America (Europe);
- SportsCenter and ESPNEWS will provide coverage of key, pregame and postgame news conferences, game highlights and interviews with players and coaches during the entire Championship;
- ESPNFrontRow.com debuts March 30 and will offer behind-the-scenes views of our coverage of the NCAA Championship semifinals and finals.
First and Second Rounds – Regionalization & Home Market Protection
Regionalized/Home Market Protection – In the home markets of the competing teams, 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.Whip-Around Coverage – For the first and second rounds, multiple games (as many as four) will begin within one telecast window on ESPN2. During those windows, the network plans to “whip-around” or switch to the best action from different games for viewers in the majority of the nation (except in the home markets of the competing teams). Select games will be made available to a full national audience on ESPNU.
ESPN Network’s NCAA Women’s Championship Specials (All times are subject to change)
| Date | Time (ET) | Special | Network |
| Tuesday, Mar 15 | 1 p.m. | College Basketball Live: NCAA Women’s Tournament Coaches Special | ESPNU/SPN HD |
| 7 p.m. | NCAA Women’s Basketball Bracket Special | ESPN/ESPN HD | |
| Saturday, Mar 26 | 11 p.m. | NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Special |
ESPN2/ESPN HD |
| Sunday, Mar 27 | 2 p.m. | NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Special |
ESPN2/ESPN HD |
| Sunday, Apr 3 | 6:30 p.m. | NCAA Women’s Final Four Special | ESPN/ESPN HD |
| Tuesday, Apr 5 | 1 p.m. | The Experts: Women’s Tournament Special | ESPNUESPNU HD |
| 2 p.m. | Crunch Time: Women’s Tournament | ESPNU/ESPNU HD | |
| 6 p.m. | College Basketball Live:Women’s National Championship Special | ESPNU/ESPNU HD | |
| 7:30 p.m. | NCAA Women’s Championship Special | ESPN/ESPN HD |
That’s all.
