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Liz Repella, Kayleen Fitzsimmons and Emma Shalaway will get their first taste of ‘‘March Madness’’ this weekend when West Virginia University and Cornell University play in the opening-round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.

‘‘It’s going to be a great experience,’’ said Repella, who will join her Mountaineers teammates on a flight to Albuquerque, N.M., today to begin preparations for Saturday night’s contest against New Mexico (8:30 p.m. EDT, ESPN2).

After posting a 24-7 record and being ranked nationally all season, the Mountaineers were seeded fifth in the Spokane Region.

And what was their reward?

Playing the 12th-seeded Lobos (20-12), seventh in the nation in home attendance this season, at ‘‘The Pit.’’ And in the higher altitude, no less.

‘‘It was very surprising,’’ Repella said of the pairings this week from Morgantown. ‘‘But we’ll just go in there with the mindset to play hard.’’

Repella, a freshman from Steubenville, has been a welcome addition to Coach Mike Carey’s lineup this season, playing in 30 of the team’s 31 games and averaging 3.7 points and 1.8 rebounds per outing. She is shooting nearly 48 percent from the field and had three double-digit scoring performances.

While the change from the courts of the Ohio Valley to those of the Big East was challenging at first, the former Big Red all-stater is pretty pleased with how her rookie campaign has played out.

‘‘Coming in I just wanted to play hard and do whatever I was asked to do,’’ she said. ‘‘My expectations were to do my best.’’

And she’s done that. But Repella acknowledges there is still plenty of learning to do.

‘‘I definitely need to improve my dribbling skills,’’ she noted.

She also credited her teammates with giving her plenty of pointers.

‘‘I think it helps when you have seven seniors (on the team),’’ she said. ‘‘Now you have seven extra coaches out there.’’

West Virginia’s veteran lineup has paid big dividends this season. Led by seniors Meg Bulger, Olayinka Sanni, Laquita Owens and Chakhia Cole —all 1,000-point scorers —the Mountaineers recorded their fourth 21-victory season during the last five seasons and secured only the program’s fifth NCAA bid.

‘‘Our defense has definitely been the key for us this season,’’ Repella said. ‘‘If you look at the Rutgers game (a 63-54 victory against the then-No. 4 Scarlet Knights on Jan. 4) our defense shined in that victory.

‘‘It’s been our ingredient for success.’’

This season, only 10 WVU opponents have shot better than 40 percent. Overall, 13 opponents have failed to shoot better than 35 percent against the Mountaineers, including six Big East foes. In fact, Pitt’s 20.3 percent performance against WVU set a Big East standard for lowest shooting percentage allowed.

That could be bad news for a New Mexico offense that is shooting a shade less than 40 percent this season.

In the Lobos, who are making their seventh consecutive NCAA appearance, WVU will find a club that has won six straight games after winning the Mountain West Conference Tournament.

‘‘We’re pretty happy as a team right now,’’ Repella said. ‘‘Going down the stretch we lost four of our last eight, but we’re pretty happy with how we’re doing heading into the tournament.’’

The Mountaineers started the season with a three-game winning streak, culminating with a victory against Cornell.

It was one of eight losses the Big Red would suffer en route to the school’s first Ivy League championship (shared with Dartmouth and Harvard) and first 20-victory season.

The Big Red secured their first NCAA Tournament berth by thumping Dartmouth in a one-game playoff Sunday. The Ivy League doesn’t have a postseason tournament.

‘‘It was amazing,’’ Fitzsimmons said, describing the moments after the final second ticked off the clock.

‘‘It’s always been our goal to win the Ivy League championship. It was exciting.’’

The moment was sweet for the Wheeling Central standout who helped lead the Maroon Knights to the 2004 state title.

A junior, Fitzsimmons has spent the last three seasons watching her team go from league doormat to league champion.

‘‘It’s gratifying to go through each year, get better and see what you can do if you work hard,’’ the 5-foot-5 guard said.

The Big Red women will join the Cornell men on the tournament trail for the first time.

Fitzsimmons said the entire town of Ithaca, N.Y. ,has been swept up in Big Red fever.

‘‘I don’t think Cornell knows what to do,’’ she said.

What Fitzsimmons and her teammates will do is travel to Bridgeport, Conn., for an opening-round contest Sunday (7 p.m. EDT, ESPN2) against powerful Connecticut (32-1), the top seed in the Greensboro Region and the top seed in the entire 64-team field.

‘‘I looked up and saw UConn,’’ Fitzsimmons said of her reaction to the release of the tournament bracket. “They are No. 1, but we’ll get a shot and that’s really exciting.’’

Fitzsimmons will be on the the same court as Huskies starter and St. Albans native Renee Montgomery.

The two were AAU teammates at one time.

It’s been a rough season for Fitzsimmons, who has started 61 games in three seasons.

She broke her hand midway through the 2007-08 campaign and missed the bulk of the Ivy League portion of the schedule.

She scored a season-high 19 points against Gardner-Webb in the Cornell Classic and was named to the all-tournament team.

Shalaway, who starred at Cameron High School and Mount de Chantal, has also been sidelined by an injury — a stress fracture in her foot.

However, she did make the best out of her situation, watching the other players and learning more about the collegiate game.

And getting to make a trip to the NCAA Tournament as a freshman isn’t bad, either.

‘‘It’s been hard to sink in,’’ she said. ‘‘It’s one of those things that you work for if you play basketball you’re entire life.’’

Shalaway and Fitzsimmons are the only two West Virginia natives on the Cornell roster.

Both agree it’s nice to have a familiar face around.

‘‘Having someone from your area is comforting,’’ Shalaway noted.

The duo believe the family type atmosphere surrounding the team has been a key to its success.

‘‘Everyone plays with each other,’’ Shalaway said. ‘‘On any different night any player can step up. It’s been a team effort.’’

 

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