PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Three local teams have qualified for the Division II men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.
On the women’s side, Holy Family University in Northeast Philadelphia earned an automatic bid into the field by winning the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference title. The 24-6 Tigers are the No. 3 seed in the East Region, and they will take on the No. 6 seed, Assumption College, in the first round on Friday.
This is Holy Family’s first NCAA tournament appearance since 2016. Head coach Bernadette Laukaitis said her team has earned it.
“I knew that this group had something very special ahead of them,” she said. “I think it’s for them to believe in it too, and I think they did. But at the same time, as the year went kind of through, it was awesome watching them learn and watching them just grow each and every day.”
Holy Family defeated Thomas Jefferson University in the CACC title game. Despite that disappointment, Jefferson earned an at-large berth into the tourney.
The Rams are the East Region’s No. 7 seed, and they will take on Daemen University, the No. 2 seed, in the first round on Friday.
Jefferson has advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament in each of the last two years, and that experience is big, said head coach Tom Shirley.
“It helps a lot because the freshmen coming in certainly get to experience it for the first time, which is great for the program because now they can say they’ve been there. But I think the other thing is the seniors and upperclassmen, they recognize how high the bar has been set,” he said.
“I mean, two Sweet 16 [appearances] — if we were not to go back, then we didn’t reach the bar. So I think their attitude is, we’ve really got to try to play at a level that’s going to get us back, if not further, than we’ve gone in the past.”
Holy Family and Jefferson will both be playing in Waltham, Massachusetts, on Friday. Holy Family tips off at noon. Jefferson follows at 2:30 p.m.
The one local team in the men’s field is West Chester University. The Golden Rams are tourney-bound for the first time since 2019, and they are the No. 6 seed in the Atlantic Region. They open play on Saturday, taking on the No. 3 seed, Virginia State.
West Chester earned an at-large berth into the field on the strength of a 23-6 record.
“I’m excited that we get an opportunity to go up there and play some competitive games,” said head coach Damien Blair, “and [the players] get a chance to see what it’s like to be in the NCAA tournament.”
West Chester’s game will be played in West Liberty, West Virginia, on Saturday. It tips off at noon.