Riding its best record and highest ranking in program history, the University of Cincinnati women's basketball team had hoped to play host for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. But that didn't happen.

        The 26-4 Bearcats found out Sunday they're heading for Columbia, S.C., as the sixth seed in the East Region.

        UC, ranked No. 21, opens against 11th-seeded St. Peter's (25-5) on Saturday. The Bearcats are looking at a second-round matchup with either the host school, South Carolina (22-6), or Liberty (23-7).

        The UC women got C-USA's automatic bid after winning the league tournament. This is the women's first NCAA appearance since 1999. They are riding a 13-game winning streak.

        “We bid to host. It gives you home-court advantage and would let our fans come see us,” coach Laurie Pirtle said after Friday's practice. “To have a chance of hosting, you've got to be a No.4 seed.”

        UC drew an average of 851 fans in 16 home games at Shoemaker Center.

        UC is ranked No.20 in the USA Today/ESPN poll and No.21 by the Associated Press. Its .867 winning percentage is the best in 32 seasons of UC women's basketball, and the Bearcats earned their fifth consecutive postseason tournament bid by winning the Conference USA Tournament on Monday.

        The automatic bid to the NCAAs is the Bearcats' second in five years. The other three seasons ended with WNIT berths. The Bearcats are a combined 109-45 over the past five seasons heading into the national tournament.

        The current Bearcats are anything but a history lesson. In spite of their impressive record, they're a work in progress. They start just one senior, center Laura Wilder. The leading scorers are sophomore guard Valerie King (19.9 points a game) and freshman forward Debbie Merrill (14.8).

        The other starters are sophomore forward Brittani Young and junior point guard K.B. Sharp. Senior center Tamara Douglass comes off the bench and is third in scoring (9.4).

        As a team, UC averages 75.1 points a game and gives up 58.3.

        “We run an exciting style of offense,” Pirtle said. “Our point guard (Sharp) is fast. Valerie King is an outside scoring threat. We can work the ball inside. Our defense creates a lot of our offense.”

        UC also is hot right now. It has a program-record 13-game win streak going, and it opened the season with 11 wins in a row.

        Last season, the Bearcats fell to Ohio State in the first round of the WNIT, 61-60 at the buzzer. UC's most recent NCAA appearance came following the 1998-99 season, when the Bearcats fell in the first round to No.16 Oregon, 65-56.

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