LA ROCHE TO TAKE ON HOPE COLLEGE IN NCAA FIRST ROUND

This past Saturday the La Roche University women's basketball team claimed their second consecutive, and ninth overall, AMCC women's basketball title. In doing so, the Redhawks have automatically earned an NCAA bid to the first round of the Division III NCAA Tournament. The team will hit the road where they will take on the Flying Dutch of Hope College on March 4, at 7:00 PM. This will be Coach Kam Gissandanner's seventh NCAA Tournament appearance since 2013. 

In this past weekends' contest, Danajah Sanders led the Redhawks with 19 points, as she averaged 13.7 points per game this season. Makayla Abram and Ayanna Mazyck both average 12+ points per game; Mazyck also averages eight rebounds per game. In the AMCC Championship game Mazyck netted a total of 12 points. Machia Hairston stepped it up bigtime in the AMCC Championship game, as she averaged eight rebounds per game this season, but in the AMCC championship game she had 20 rebounds paired with 10 points. 

The Flying Dutch (No. 2 D3hoops, No. 3 WBCA) won the MIAA Tournament to clinch an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament. Hope won a share of the MIAA regular-season championship, sharing the title with Trine University. This is the Flying Dutch's 22nd NCAA Tournament appearance. Hope won national championships in 2006 and 1990. The Flying Dutch were ranked No. 1 and unbeaten in 2019-20 heading into sectionals before the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Guard Kenedy Schoonveld is the MIAA MVP for the third consecutive season. Center Olivia Voskuil is a four-time MIAA Defensive Player of the Year and three-time All-MIAA First Team honoree.

Hope (22-6) is making its first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 2018.

In addition to La Roche earning a bid to the NCAA tournament, the Penn State Behrend women's basketball team earned the program's 13^th bid to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) South Region Tournament, announced on Monday.

The second-seeded Lions (20-5) will travel the host Carnegie Mellon to battle No. 3 Westminster in semifinal action on Wednesday night. Game time is yet to be determined. The No. 4 Tartans and No. 1 Kean are the second semifinal game of the tournament. Winners advance to the championship game on Saturday, hosted by Carnegie Mellon. 

Behrend and Westminster last met in the first round of the ECAC South Region Tournament in 2019. The Lions defeated the Titans 69-61 for a first-round victory.

The Lions are coming off an 80-78 loss in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) semifinals to Pitt-Greensburg, while the Titans fell in their PAC Championship game to Washington & Jefferson, 58-42.

Behrend advanced to the ECAC South Semifinals in 2011 and 2012 but fell short of their third ECAC title. The Lions won the championship in 1991-92 and in 1995-96.