HARTFORD, Conn. - The Trinity College women's basketball team has been chosen for the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament as an at-large selection for the third time, and the Bantams will host first and second rounds games in the tournament at Oosting Gymnasium on Friday and Saturday. Trinity opens against the Notre Dame of Maryland University Gators on Friday, March 3 at 6:30 p.m., following the other first round game in Hartford between SUNY Cortland and St. Vincent College at 4 p.m. The winner will face each other on Saturday, March 4 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for children ages 3 to 12, students with ID and senior citizens. The Bantams, coached by Emily Garner (6th Season), currently have a 22-5 overall record and finished third in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) with a 7-3 mark against conference teams. The Bantams qualified for the NESCAC Championship Tournament for the 16th time and the fifth year in a row, and downed Amherst, 58-57, in the quarterfinals and Williams, 60-42, in the semifinals before falling at Tufts in its first-ever NESCAC Finals appearance, 57-38. Trinity, ranked No. 16 in the nation, last appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 1997.
Trinity has now qualified for the NCAA Tournament three times with a trip to the second round in 1995 and a first round appearance in 1997. Trinity owns a 1-2 all-time record in the tourney with a 66-63 victory against Southern Maine in 1995 and losses to Wheaton (Mass.) that same year and to Southern Maine in 1997. Trinity joins conference champion Tufts as representatives from the NESCAC to make the tournament field. Trinity has a 4-3 record against the 64 teams in the tourney, having won, 64-39, against Mitchell, 58-41, versus Roger Williams, 59-54, against Eastern Connecticut, and 65-61 at Babson during the regular season. The Bantams lost two road games at Tufts (57-56 anf 57-38) and fell in overtime to top-ranked Smith, 71-68, during the year. Notre Dame did not play a team in this year's NCAA field, the Gators and Bantams have no common opponents., and the teams have never played each other.
Trinity posted its best-ever record after 20 games at 19-1 this winter but lost three of four games and twice on the road by a single point over the last 11 days of the regular season. The Bantams bounced Amherst and Williams in the NESCAC Tournament before Sunday's setback at Tufts. The Bantams rank No. 16 nationally in scoring defense with just under 50 points allowed per game and 24th nationally in field goal percentage defense at 33.0. Trinity junior center Reilly Campbell (Wallingford, Conn.) is eighth nationally in double-doubles with 17, 17th in field goal shooting with a 56.8 percentage from the floor, and averages 15.9 points, 11 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.5 blocks, and 1.2 steals per game. Classmate Emma Wax (Pine Brook, N.J.) adds 10.1 points, four rebounds, and a team-high 2.9 assists per contest, and senior guard Bria Fuller (Springdale, Md.) is averaging 7.1 points and 3.7 rebounds each game. Trinity senior forward Frankie Silva (Auburndale, Mass.) averages 4.1 points and 3.4 rebounds per game, and sophomore guard Hannah Marzo (Shrewsbury, Mass.), who led the Bantams in scoring with double digits in both NESCAC playoff games over the weekend. boasts 5.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.0 steals per contest.
