Bernell DorroughThe Washington University women’s basketball team earned an at-large bid and a first round bye in the NCAA tournament. The Bears will face the winner of the Maryville v. Millikin on March 6 at the Field House. The women shared this season’s UAA title with NYU, but since NYU defeated the Bears twice this season, they were granted the UAA’s automatic playoff berth. Brackets were announced on Sunday, with the Bears’ 21-4 record (11-3 UAA) earning them a Pool C at-large spot in the tournament. It will be the 15th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance for the University. The team holds the Division III record for consecutive championships (4) and Final Four appearances (6). The Bears are second in all-time tournament wins with 33 and third in all-time winning percentage (.717).
“Because we were on the bubble, it was an incredibly exciting night for us on Sunday,” said head coach Nancy Fahey. “We thought we weren’t playing for a championship the week before. We ended up sharing it with NYU. D3Hoops had us picked, but we were sitting on the edge. We feel like we got our second life on Sunday night. Right now we don’t know who we are playing. We have films on both teams. Obviously, we’ve seen them. By the time we hit Saturday, everyone’s going to be good and hopefully we’ll come out with a strong game plan and play some good basketball.”