The newly crowned Presidents’ Athletic Conference champion Saint Vincent women’s basketball team learned Monday its opening opponent for the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Gathered to watch the online selection show following a campus pep rally inside the school’s Carey Lounge, the Bearcats (23-4) found out they’ll play traditional power and former PAC foe Thomas More (27-0) on Friday in the first round in Crestview Hills, Ky.
Game time has not been announced. Thomas More is hosting a tournament quadrant at Connor Convocation Center.
Thomas More is a national power. It is ranked No. 1 in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association poll and No. 2 in the NCAA D-III rankings. The Saints won a conference title for the 12th straight year by claiming the American Collegiate Athletic Association championship. They had won 11 straight PAC titles before leaving the conference.
The Saints played in the NCAA D-III Final Four last year, its third semifinal trip in four years.
Saint Vincent and Thomas More played Jan. 30 with Thomas More winning 82-46 in Latrobe. Thomas More is led by senior Madison Temple, who averages 23.6 points, 5.6 assists and shoots 61.7 percent from the field. Junior Kaela Saner leads Division III’s fourth-ranked 3-point shooting team (39.2 percent) by making 51.2 percent of her 3s.
Saint Vincent ran past Washington & Jefferson on Saturday, 70-48, to claim its first conference title and clinch an automatic bid into the tournament, its first appearance in the “big dance” since 2011.
SVC also made it in 2010, but both previous trips were a result of at-large bids.
