The NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee picked UALR and its Jack Stephens Center as one of the 16 sites for the 2012 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship first and second rounds, Trojan Athletic Director Chris Peterson announced at a news conference Wednesday.

It will be the first time that Little Rock has served as host site for the tournament.

“First and foremost, we need to thank the Stephens family, for without the philanthropic ways of Jack Stephens and the Stephens family, we would not have this opportunity,” Peterson said. “The Jack Stephens Center is the finest basketball facility of its size in the country. Because of that and because that the greater Little Rock area proved itself a host in 2008, we were selected.”

UALR and 15 other sites will host the first and second rounds of the tournament either Saturday and Monday, March 17 and 19, or Sunday and Tuesday, March 18 and 20, 2012. The NCAA will determine the dates in June 2011.

As host school for the 2012 first and second rounds, UALR joins Iowa State, LSU, Bowling Green State, Fairfield University, University of North Carolina, DePaul, Maryland, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Old Dominion, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Gonzaga, Florida State, and Purdue.

Andrea Duc, director of sales for UALR Athletics, said season ticket holders for Trojan Women’s Basketball will get first priority to purchase playoff tickets at $50 with end zone seats going for $40.

“This is great for UALR and great for the city,” she said. “There will be four teams selected for the first round, and hopefully UALR will be one of those teams. That means we will be playing at home.”

Last season, the Trojan women went to the NCAA playoffs, beating Georgia Tech in the first round and lost to Oklahoma.

The 2012 tournament will be the first time the city of Little Rock has hosted an NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball playoff. UALR will be the only Sun Belt institution hosting that year.

“This is an exciting day for Little Rock and UALR,” said Gretchen Hall, director of merchandising and communications for the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Central Arkansas has played host to multiple national sporting events, and the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship will no doubt be a great event for basketball fans throughout the state to enjoy.”

Further information about the tournament will be available at a later date at UALRTrojans.com and littlerock.com.