home sweet home for 12 teams

The Maryland Terrapins had a pair of reasons to celebrate on Monday.

First, they're back in the Big Dance after a year hiatus. And they also found out they will be playing their NCAA tournament games at home.

Maryland is the No. 4 seed and will play St. Francis (Pa.) on Sunday in College Park. The Terrapins are one of 12 teams that will play their first and second round games at home.

If Maryland wins its first two rounds, it will possibly play two-time defending national champion Connecticut in the Philadelphia Regional semifinals.

"To be able to sleep in your own bed, to not have to travel -- we hope it gives us an extra push," Maryland coach Brenda Frese told the Diamondback on Wednesday. "But it's the NCAA Tournament. You're going to get any team's best shot."

UConn also will play its first two rounds at home. The Huskies open tournament play against Hartford, the No. 16 seed, on Sunday. Hartford is coached by former UConn standout Jen Rizzotti.

Baylor, Tennessee, Stanford, Penn State, Gonzaga, Xavier, Ohio State, Utah, Duke and Louisiana Tech are also hosting first and second-round games.

Louisiana Tech is playing its opening games at Shreveport, which is an hour from campus. But the Lady Techsters are playing the host of the first and second-round games. Louisiana Tech, the No. 10 seed, is playing seventh-seeded Rutgers in the first round on Sunday.

Penn State will play Dayton in a first-round game on Saturday in Happy Valley. It's a rematch of the Nittany Lions' season opener against the Flyers. Penn State knocked off Dayton 112-107 in two overtimes.

If the sixth-seeded Nittany Lions get past the first two rounds, they'll travel east to Philadelphia for the regional tournament. Penn State played in the Final Four at the City of Brotherly Love in 2000.

"It's a tremendous advantage to play at home the first two games. Then, we'd be playing in Philadelphia," Penn State senior Julia Trogele told the Daily Collegian on Tuesday. "A lot of us are actually from Pennsylvania, so I think we'd still have a lot of support coming out to those games."

Xavier will play South Dakota State in the first round on Sunday in Cincinnati. The Musketeers, who are seeded second, came up one win short of a trip to the Final Four last year.

Gonzaga, which is the No. 11 seed, will play sixth-seeded Iowa in the first round on Saturday. The Bulldogs reached the Sweet 16 in 2010.

In order for top-seeded Baylor to get to the Women's Final Four, the Bears must win all four of their games in Texas. If it survives its first two rounds in Waco, Baylor qualifies for the regional tournament in Dallas.

Senior Melissa Jones will be ready for the NCAA tournament as her vision continues to improve. She suffered a head injury on Feb. 27 against Oklahoma in the Big 12 Tournament, causing problems for her to see out of her right eye.

"I don't know why I wake up randomly in the middle of the night, but every time I do, I just kind of look. It was a shock, like, 'Whoa, there's actually something there,' " Jones told the Baylor Lariat on Tuesday. "I can see things right now, but it's really blurry."

Tennessee plays Stetson in the first round on Saturday in Knoxville. A win qualifies the Lady Vols to the second round against either Marquette or Texas on Monday.

Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt's alma mater, Tennessee-Martin, will be in the tournament for the first time. The Skyhawks play Duke in the first round on Saturday.

Duke drew the No. 2 seed and if it gets past Tennessee-Martin, it will play either Iowa State or Marist in the second round on Monday.

"You can't let what other people think get to you, and I think this team will only go as far as we motivate ourselves to go," Duke senior Jasmine Thomas told the Duke Chronicle on Tuesday. "We can't rely on people to try to fire us up or people that doubt us, so we're excited to prove ourselves."

After winning the Big Ten tournament, Ohio State earned a No. 4 seed and will play Central Florida in the first round on Saturday. The Buckeyes were eliminated in the second round last year.

By winning the Mountain West tournament, Utah earned a No. 15 seed and will second-seeded Notre Dame on Saturday. If the Utes pull off the gigantic upset, they will play either Arizona State or Temple in the second round.

"They are hosting, so we get to play them on their home court in more of a tournament atmosphere," Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw told the Notre Dame Observer on Tuesday. "We like playing in front of a crowd, and they're coming off a win (in the Mountain West tournament). They're going to be a challenge."

Stanford plays UC Davis in the first round on Saturday. If they win, the Cardinal will play either Texas Tech or St. John's in the second round on Monday. Stanford is setting its sights on winning its first title in almost 20 years.

"I'm really excited for our team to be selected as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer told the Stanford Daily on Tuesday. "As a team, we know we can only play six more games together, and do the absolute best that we can."

Maryland, which participated in the WNIT last year, is looking to win its first championship in five years. But first, the Terrapins have to get past a St. Francis team that won the Northeast Conference this year. If they do that, they likely will play Georgetown in the second round on Tuesday. Maryland lost to the Hoyas 53-45 at Georgetown in November.

Maryland is also one of four teams (the others are Purdue, Rutgers and Miami) that don't have any seniors on their roster. The Terrapins have four juniors, four sophomores and six freshmen on their team.