As part of a historic day for the NESCAC, the women's basketball team was awarded an at−large bid to the NCAA Tournament yesterday afternoon by the tournament's selection committee.
The announcement ended over a week of anxiousness for Tufts, which was thought to be on the tournament bubble after losing three of its last four games. Ultimately, however, the unparalleled strength of the Jumbos' conference helped propel them to the Big Dance for the third consecutive year. Tufts will be joined in the field of 64 by four NESCAC rivals: automatic qualifier and conference−champion Amherst, as well as Pool C entrants Bowdoin, Colby and Williams.
The five total bids awarded to the NESCAC were the most in its history, topping the four it received in 2006.
"It definitely says that the NESCAC is the best conference in the country this year," coach Carla Berube said. "I think five teams deserve it. Some of us played the toughest schedules in the country, and it's great basketball. It makes sense."
After Tufts lost to Bowdoin in the first round of the NESCAC Tournament on Feb. 20, its at−large chances were perhaps a bit shakier than in year's past. But ultimately, the selection committee weighed the team's overall body of work — a 17−4 record against the fourth−toughest in−region schedule in the country, as well as notable wins over three regionally ranked opponents — more heavily than its recent struggles.
Still, the Jumbos did not go entirely unpunished for their earliest conference tournament exit in four years. A possible candidate to host the first two rounds of NCAAs until its late−season slide, Tufts wound up being shipped over 230 miles to the campus of Kean University in Union, N.J., where it will take on Muhlenberg in Friday's opening round.
The Jumbos are used to hitting the road this time of year, however. Because Cousens Gym was not a regulation−size facility until this season, Tufts was forced to play out−of−region NCAA games in both 2008 and 2009, even though it could have made a case to host each year.
"We've traveled the past two years, and every time we do, it sort of gets us in the NCAA spirit," junior Lindsay Weiner said. "It makes us focus only on the game rather than classes and the daily routine at school. It's a chance to get away and have some fun."
The Jumbos were further penalized for stumbling down the stretch by being given possibly the toughest draw of any of the five NESCAC teams in the tournament. First up is Centennial Conference runner−up Muhlenberg, which earned a return ticket to March Madness after reaching the Sweet Sixteen a year ago.
The nationally ranked No. 22 Mules are paced by sophomore Alexandra Chili, who has averaged 17.4 points and 2.9 three−pointers per game so far this season.
"She's a great three−point shooter — always has been — and she looks for that every game," said Weiner, who played against Chili in high school. "That's her deadly weapon."
If Tufts was to get past its most formidable first−round opponent in its brief NCAA Tournament history, it would almost certainly take on host Kean for the right to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. Riding a 26−game winning streak, the second−ranked Cougars have lost only to Div. I Rutgers this year, steamrolling through the New Jersey Athletic Conference at a 13−0 clip. Two years removed from an appearance in the Elite Eight, Kean is considered an odds−on favorite to reach the Final Four for the second time in program history.
Having played national powerhouses Mary Washington and Messiah in NCAA play in recent years, Tufts would look forward to the challenge of facing another of Div. III's best.
"It's how we roll — when our backs are against the wall, that's when we play our best basketball," Berube said. "I don't think we like the easy road.
"I think Kean is a very, very strong team that's had a strong season," she continued. "It'll be interesting and fun to watch them and see who they are. But Muhlenberg is the focus."
At the very least, the Jumbos know that their cutthroat conference has prepared them well for the difficult road ahead.
"We know walking into a gym that we've played one of the hardest schedules and that we've played some of the best teams in the country already," senior tri−captain Vanessa Miller said. "We have a lot of experience playing very, very solid basketball teams, which not everybody can say they have at this point in the season. Some teams start to play their toughest games of the season in the first round of NCAAs, and for us, we already have a couple of those under our belt. It's good experience to have."
