The BYU women's softball team will go head to head with the Tarheels of North Carolina in the first game of the NCAA Regional tournament on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. in Chapel Hill, NC.

The Cougars will be in Chapel Hill through the end of the double-elimination Tournament on Saturday.

Against top 25 opponents, BYU is 4-7, and all four wins against ranked teams were against teams outside the top-10.

Although BYU has received votes all season, the Cougars have not broken through to the top 25.

The Cougars are ranked second in the Mountain West Conference, and North Carolina, the host school, holds the title in the ACC.North Carolina recorded also posted a 50-win season, for the sixth time in UNC history.

BYU will rely on Daniela Snow's batting average of .422 and 65 RBI's, and Angeline Quiocho 's 17 home runs on the season.

The Tarheel's offense is backed by Breanna Brown's batting average of .343, Jennifer Jacobs 39 RBI's, and Cassie Palmer 's 7 home runs during the season.

BYU's record is 4-8 in their most recent four years of NCAA competition. After defeating Cal Poly 9-0 in the first round of the 2004 Regional, BYU was defeated by Arizona State, 1-7.The Cougars rallied after the loss and conquered Southern Utah, 10-5, to advance BYU to its furthest post-season appearance ever.

In the Regional Championship game, the Cougars matched Arizona State with a 3-3 tie after three innings, but the Sun Devils took the lead with back-to-back homers in the fourth. BYU was unable to recover from the deficit and lost, 3-6.

Following their first Regional game, BYU will play Saturday. The contender and time will be announced after the first round of games.

Live stats and BYU and NCAA softball updates will be available on the Web site, byucougars.com.