Twelve teams from the Atlantic 10 Conference will head to Charlotte, N.C., this weekend for a shot at the conference championship and an automatic bid to the 2009 Women’s NCAA Basketball Championship.

Xavier ran away with the regular-season title, finishing the year with a near-perfect 13-1 conference record (25-5 overall) to secure the top seed in the tournament. The lone blemish in Xavier’s in-conference schedule came in its loss to Temple, who finished second in the conference standings.

Charlotte and Richmond finished third and forth, respectively, and will try to remain focused as they have a bye in the first round. The top four teams will all begin their quest for the title on Saturday, March 7 in the second round.

Elsewhere in the conference, middleweights George Washington, Duquesne, Dayton and St. Bonaventure will all need to make a deep run in the tournament to improve their resumes enough to have any chance for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘

Massachusetts, Saint Joseph’s, Saint Louis and Rhode Island will round out the bottom four seeds in the tournament and will be faced with a decisive ultimatum: Win it all, or call it a season. Although there is certainly a great deal at stake in all of these games, teams who hope to prolong their season will have to approach the tournament as if they have nothing to lose. With no one expecting them to get past the second round, the stage is set to assume the role of spoiler.

Xavier, led by A-10 Player of the Year Ta’Shia Phillips, will be pursuing its third straight A-10 title and fifth overall. Temple, meanwhile, is currently riding a four-game winning streak that began with a convincing 75-64 victory over Xavier on Feb. 25. The Owls should pose the biggest roadblock on Xavier’s path to another title.

Charlotte will have the added advantage of home court as it looks to advance past the quarterfinals for the first time since 2005. The 49ers are led by an impressive cast of young players, including A-10 Sixth Player of the Year Shannon McCallum. McCallum is second in the team in scoring behind junior sharpshooter Aysha Jones. The two have played a pivotal role in a Charlotte offense that ranks third in the conference in scoring with just under 68 points per game.

Duquesne led the conference in scoring during the regular season and will face off with 11-seeded UMass in the first round of competition. The Dukes are one of the hottest teams going into the tournament, having won six straight conference games and eight of their last 10 overall. Anchoring the Duquesne defense is senior guard Kristi Little, who was recently named A-10 Defensive Player of the Year for the second year in a row. The winner of that matchup will move on to face Charlotte in the second round.

Last time UMass faced Duquesne, Minutewoman senior Stefanie Gerardot scored a season-high 28 points in a 75-61 loss. If the Minutewomen hope to fare better the second time around and prolong their season, they’ll have to tighten up their defense against the top offensive team in the conference.

Noah Steinberg-DiStefano can be reached at [email protected].