TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team will host the three-time defending national champion University of Illinois on Thursday, Jan. 13, at 8 p.m. in the UA Student Recreation Center as part of the Alabama Wheelchair Basketball Classic Tournament.

UA Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team Head Coach Margaret Stran said the tournament promises to be a big event for the team and its supporters.

“This should be a fun game for the fans,” Stran said. We have the pep band coming out, Big Al will be in attendance – plus the University of Illinois team has orange and blue uniforms – that should be enough to get the crowd fired up.”

Crimson Tide fans are encouraged to “paint the gym crimson” by wearing crimson shirts to the game. The title sponsor for the Alabama Wheelchair Basketball Classic is Golden Rule Barbecue. Admission is free.

The Crimson Tide and Fighting Illini both compete in the Women’s Division of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association, known as the NWBA. In their second season, the UA Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team has 8 wins and 7 losses against mostly men’s teams.

“In the world of women’s wheelchair basketball, this is the equivalent of our football team playing Auburn on campus,” said Dr. Brent Hardin, director of UA Disability Sports. “The game is sure to be a test for the young Alabama team as the University of Illinois women’s team has won the women’s wheelchair basketball national championship the last three years and will be a number one seed in this year’s tourney,” he said.

In the warm-up game at 6 p.m. in the Student Recreation Center, the University of Illinois men’s team will play the top-ranked Dallas Mavericks.

That high-powered match up pairs two past champions of the NWBA men’s division champions who are likely to compete for the championship again this year.

Following the games on the UA campus, all four teams will travel to the Pioneer Classic at the Lakeshore Foundation in Birmingham for two more days of tournament play.

For more information about UA Disability Sports or the UA Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team, contact Hardin at 205/348-5109, Stran at 205/348-7991, and go to the UADS Web site www.bama.ua.edu/~uads.