Richmond, Va. (Mar. 2, 2007) ? Georgia State earned the No. 8 seed in the 12-team 2007 Aeropostale Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball championship that begins Thursday in Newark, Del. on the campus of the University of Delaware and runs through Sunday, March 11. State (15-14, 7-11 CAA) will face No. 9 seed Drexel (9-20. 4-14 CAA) in opening round action Thursday at noon. The contest can be heard live on WRAS-FM (88.5) radio in Atlanta or on the Internet at www.wras.org. The championship bracket is attached as a PDF.

Old Dominion (21-8, 17-1 CAA) has earned the top seed. James Madison is No. 2 with a 25-4 record (16-2 CAA), followed by Delaware (25-4, 16-2) and Hofstra (23-6, 13-5). Last year, these four CAA teams received postseason berths, including three to the WNIT. ODU enters the tournament as the 15-time defending champion. The top four seeds also earn opening round byes Thursday.

Opening-round action tips off at noon on Thursday with the Georgia State/Drexel matchup. At 2:30 p.m., #5 William & Mary meets #12 George Mason. Beginning at 5 p.m., #6 Va. Commonwealth takes on #11 Northeastern, followed by #7 Towson versus #10 UNC Wilmington at 7:30 p.m.

In Friday's quarterfinals, #1 Old Dominion goes against the Georgia State/Drexel winner at noon, while #4 Hofstra takes on the William & Mary/George Mason victor at 2:30 p.m. Third-seeded Delaware will face the winner of Va. Commonwealth/Northeastern at 5:00 p.m., before #2 James Madison plays the Towson/UNCW victor.

The semifinals are set for noon and 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, with the championship game taking place at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 11.

All 11 games of the CAA women's basketball championship will be available via various multimedia platforms. Thursday's first-round games and Friday's quarterfinal contests will be Web streamed on CAASports.com for FREE. Both semifinal games on Saturday will be televised by CN8 and other CAA television affiliates. The semifinals can also be viewed on the internet at www.cn8.tv. Comcast SportsNet and www.cn8.tv will televise the CAA championship game on Sunday afternoon.

The CAA is rated No. 7 among the nations 32 Division I conferences in women's basketball according to the RPI report compiled by Collegiate Basketball News through games of Feb. 28. Three CAA teams, ODU, JMU and Delaware (each received votes in the latest Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Coaches top 25 polls )are slated to make the NCAA Tournament field based on ESPN.com's Charlie Cr?me latest “Bracketology” projections.

Last year, Georgia State was a No. 12 seed and upset No. 5 seed William & Mary to advance. The Panthers then dropped an exciting contest to Hofstra in the quarterfinals.

Tickets can be purchased by calling the Georgia State ticket office at 404-651-3166. More details on the event are available by visiting the CAA Web site at www.CAAsports. Tickets are also available by calling the University of Delaware box office at 302-831-2257 or by logging on to www.ticketmaster.com. The event starts with a Wednesday night banquet and recognition ceremonies for “CAA Legends” and current players.

Senior team captain Kelcey Roegiers-Jensen (St. Petersburg, Fla.) ranks in the top 15 in the CAA in eight statistical categories. She is third overall in scoring (18.0 ppg), second in assists (6.55 apg), fourth in free throw percentage and fourth in 3-point field goal percentage. Sophomore guard Brittany Hollins (Columbia, S.C.) leads State in steals (3.38 pg) and is second on the squad (3rd in the CAA) in assists (5.24 pg), while averaging 10.1 ppg. Sophomore center Marcquitta Head (Conley, Ga.) paces the Panthers' in rebounding (8.5 rpg) and ranks first in the league in field goal percentage.