NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team has advanced to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament Sweet Sixteen for the first time in program history.
The Hawks began the tournament by upsetting No. 19 Bowdoin College 62-61 at Ithaca in the first round on March 3. The following day, New Paltz took down the host Bombers 83-80, despite the fact that the Hawks lost at Ithaca 78-50 earlier this season.
"It feels great to advance in the tournament," 11th-year head coach Jamie Seward said. "The biggest thing is that I love just being around this team, so the opportunity to keep playing for another week is so exciting. I am truly blessed to coach this group of young women."
New Paltz will face the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth in the Round of 16 on Friday, March 10 at Amherst College. The Corsairs advanced to the Sweet Sixteen after defeating La Roche College 71-64 in the first round and then beat host Montclair State University 71-63 in the second round.
Tip-off between the Hawks and Corsairs is set for 5 p.m. Host No. 1 Amherst College and Babson College will face off at 7 p.m. The winners of both games will face off on Saturday at 6 p.m.
This will be the first-ever meeting between New Paltz and UMass-Dartmouth. The Hawks haven't faced Amherst since November of 2010 when the Lord Jeffs won by a score of 64-39. New Paltz last faced Babson College in the Hawks' first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament back in 2013, when the Beavers won by a score of 61-45.
NEW PALTZ (20-8): The Hawks are ranked second in the SUNYAC in scoring with 65.5 points per game… New Paltz allows the third-fewest points per game in the conference with 58.9… Senior Kit Small leads the team in points per game with 12.9, rebounds per game with 5.8, assists per game with 2.9 and steals per game with 1.9… Sophomore Lindsay Bettke is second on the team with 11.8 points per game and 1.6 assists per game… Senior Courtney Irby is ranked first on the Hawks with 0.9 blocks per game and is averaging 8.3 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game… Senior Morgan Roessler leads the team in rebounds per game with 5.9 and is averaging 8.0 points per game… Small earned All-SUNYAC First Team honors, while Bettke was named to the All-SUNYAC Second Team and Irby was named to the All-SUNYAC Third Team.
UMASS-DARTMOUTH (25-4): The Corsairs are leading the Little East Conference in scoring with 67.9 points per game… UMass-Dartmouth allows the third-fewest points per game in the conference with 58.4… Sophomore Nakira Examond leads the team in points per game with 16.2, rebounds per game with 10.7 and steals per game with 1.2… Junior Chelsea Houlihan is ranked first on the Corsairs with 3.8 assists per game and is averaging 5.9 points per game and 1.1 steals per game… Junior Alicia Kutil leads the team with 1.4 blocks per game and is averaging 14.0 points per game and 7.7 rebounds per game… Senior Rachel McCarron is averaging 10.7 points per game, 3.9 rebounds per game and 1.7 assists per game.Coach Seward on playing UMass-Dartmouth:
"To get to this point they are obviously an excellent team. We need to be ready to play our best game of the season if we want to advance."
NO. 1 AMHERST (29-0): The Lord Jeffs are ranked second in the New England Small College Athletic Conference in scoring with 70.2 points per game… Amherst allows the fewest points per game in the conference with 40.3… Senior Ali Doswell leads the team in scoring with 12.8 points per game and is averaging 4.8 rebounds per game, 2.8 assists per game and 1.3 steals per game… Sophomore Emma McCarthy is ranked first on the Lord Jeffs with 6.3 rebounds per game and is averaging 9.7 points per game and 1.3 steals per game… Senior Jamie Renner leads the team with 2.9 assists per game and is averaging 6.0 points per game and 1.5 steals per game… Senior Meredith Doswell is ranked first on the Lord Jeffs with 2.2 steals per game and 1.5 blocks per game.
BABSON (24-5): The Beavers lead the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference in scoring with 71.8 points per game… Babson allows the fourth-fewest points per game in the conference with 56.3… Senior Giovanna Pickering leads the team in points per game with 19.0, assists per game with 4.0, and is tied for the team lead in steals per game with 2.5… Senior Jennifer Narlee is ranked first on the Beavers with 11.3 rebounds per game, 1.3 blocks per game and is tied for the team lead with 2.5 steals per game… Junior Brenna LeGacy is averaging 8.9 points per game and 4.0 rebounds per game.
