BEAUMONT — BEAUMONT —  The Lamar University women’s basketball team will stay close to home when it opens play in the NCAA Tournament.

    The Lady Cardinals (26-7) earned a No. 14 seed and will play No. 3 seed West Virginia (28-5) at 8:30 p.m. Sunday at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

    “We want our fans to be part of this, and Austin is a great chance for our fans to see us play,” Lamar head coach Larry Tidwell said. “I’d be disappointed if we have less than 1,000 fans come out to Austin.”

    This will be Lamar’s second appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The other came in 1991, when the Lady Cardinals advanced to the Elite Eight.

    West Virginia, a member of the Big East, lost the tournament championship game to undefeated Connecticut. Two of the Mountaineers’ losses were to the Huskies. It will be West Virginia’s sixth trip to the NCAA tourney and third in the last four seasons.

    “We’re excited to be going,” Lamar senior guard Ashley Crawford said. “It’s going to be a great experience.”

    Lamar’s Jenna Plumley, the Southland Conference Player of the Year, will be making her third appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Plumley was the starting point guard for Oklahoma as a freshman and sophomore before transferring to Lamar.

    Ticket information will be announced shortly. Lamar is also organizing a bus excursion to see the Lady Cardinals play. For more information, call Peggy Frazier at (409) 880-2319.

    Austin proved to be a good luck charm when the Lady Cardinals were sent there in 1991.

    Coach Al Barbre’s team, 26-3 at the time and ranked No. 24 in the nation, defeated the University of Texas, 77-63, on its home floor in the opening round of the tournament. Under a different format used in those days, the Lady Cardinals then played LSU in Beaumont and, before a throng of over 10,000 at the Montagne Center, blasted the Lady Tigers, 93-73.

    That earned Lamar a return trip to Austin to play Arkansas in the Midwest Regional quarterfinals. They overwhelmed the Lady Razorbacks, 91-75, setting up a game against Virginia for the right to advance to the Final Four. Virginia, paced by All-America Dawn Staley, proved to much, pulling away late to win 90-75.

    The Lady Cardinals finished their best season ever at 29-4.

    Tidwell’s current team is on a roll, having swept through the Southland Conference tournament with a 24-point victory over Southeastern Louisiana, a nine-point decision over UTA in the semifinals and a 27-point rout of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the championship game.

    West Virginia, ranked No. 10 in the final Associated Press women’s basketball poll, was crushed by No. 1 UConn, 60-32, in the Big East semifinals. It also absorbed an 80-47 beating at UConn during the regular season.

    Other losses were 92-69 at Ohio State, 74-66 at Notre Dame and 67-48 at Syracuse.

    West Virginia coach Mike Carey, in quotes to the MSNsportsNET.com, didn’t sound pleased to be playing in Austin, and appeared to be looking past Lamar.

    “I figured we would be a No. 3 seed, but I am very disappointed that once again we may have to play a team on their home court,” he said, referring to a possible second round game against the University of Texas. “We have to get by Lamar, and then if we do that, and Texas wins, there is a possibility that could be the matchup in the second round.

    “I am very disappointed we have to play on somebody’s home court.”

    Carey, who has a 178-106 record in nine seasons at West Virginia, has one connection to Lamar — a long-standing friendship with Tidwell.

    “I don’t know anything about Lamar’s team, but I know their coach real well,” Carey said. “He used to be an assistant coach at TCU, and I am good friends with him. It will be good to see him. But I don’t know anything about his team.”