DePaul University

Providence, R.I. - Full-session tickets for the 2010 BIG EAST Women's Basketball Championship will go on sale Tuesday, Dec. 1, at 10 a.m. ET via all Ticketmaster outlets. The championship returns to Hartford, Conn. and the XL Center for the seventh straight year March 5-9, 2010.

The BIG EAST will again welcome all 16 teams to its women's basketball championship in 2010, a battle for the conference's automatic NCAA tournament bid. Ticket packages to all 15 games of the championship are priced at $99.00 each, which is discounted by nearly one half of the face value. Ticket offices at all 16 BIG EAST institutions have had all-session packages on sale for several weeks.

To charge tickets by phone, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. In addition, tickets can be purchased online by logging on to the XL Center website at www.xlcenter.com or the Ticketmaster website at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets can be purchased through all Ticketmaster outlets, including Macy's at West Farms Mall (West Hartford, Conn.).

Tickets can also be purchased at the XL Center box office beginning Tuesday, Dec. 1. Weekday box office hours are Noon-5 p.m. For weekend events, the box office will open four hours prior to the start of an event. All ticket purchases are subject to additional convenience fees.

For group sales (10 or more) information and discounts, please contact Cheri Lisko of the XL Center at (860) 548-2000.
 
The City of Hartford has embraced the annual event resulting in unparalleled success for the Conference. The BIG EAST continues to lead all leagues nationally in average attendance. The Greater Hartford Convention & Visitors Bureau and its members are hard at work to offer fans special rates and discounts on hotels and restaurants and complimentary shuttle services to tourist attractions. The GHCVB, along with the XL Center, are working hard to make the 2010 Fan Fest bigger and better than last year's event. The Fan Fest features non-stop music, games, interactive sports and the Hoopa Lounge before, during and after all games.  For more information please visit www.enjoyhartford.com/bigeast.

The 2009 BIG EAST Championship brought plenty of excitement to the XL Center. Top-ranked Connecticut held off second-seeded Louisville to win the 2009 crown. It was Connecticut's 15th title, including four of the last five. The two teams squared off just under a month later in the NCAA National Championship game, as the Huskies won their sixth national title. With its new format of all 16-teams advancing to the 2009 Conference Championship, the first round saw three upsets, while the remainder of the tournament saw the seeds hold true, making for an exciting and competitive event.

The 2010 second-round games on March 6 will be aired as part of the BIG EAST Regional Television Package, which is broadcast via Regional Sports Networks (RSN) in BIG EAST markets. SportsNet New York (SNY) is the flagship station for the BIG EAST RSN Game of the Week during the regular season and will carry all four first-round tournament games as well. The quarterfinals on March 7 and semifinals on March 8 will be shown live on ESPNU, while the championship game, on March 9, will appear on ESPN as the only women's conference championship on the network's primary platform.

The BIG EAST is the largest and most diverse Division I conference in the country.  It was formed in 1979 and represents the athletic interests of 16 member institutions including the University of Cincinnati, University of Connecticut, DePaul University, Georgetown University, University of Louisville, Marquette University, University of Notre Dame, University of Pittsburgh, Providence College, Rutgers University, St. John's University, Seton Hall University, University of South Florida, Syracuse University, Villanova University and West Virginia University. The BIG EAST Conference has captured 27 national championships in six different sports and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series.  For more information on the Conference and its membership, please visit www.bigeast.org.