JEFF REINHART | Sports WriterThey’re in.
Elizabethtown College’s women’s basketball team had to sweat it out for a couple of days. But the Blue Jays on Monday did indeed earn an at-large bid into the 64-team Division III NCAA Tournament.
E-town, ranked No. 18 in the country, fell at undefeated and third-ranked Scranton in the Landmark Conference championship game on Saturday, and had to wait until the full field was announced Monday afternoon to learn their postseason fate.
The Jays (22-4 overall) heard their name called, and E-town will head to the Pool C Pod at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia to take on MAC Freedom runner-up and 21st-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology (22-5) in a first-round game on Friday at 6 p.m.
Host Christopher Newport will square off against Brooklyn College on Friday; that winner will face the E-town/Stevens survivor on Saturday.
The Jays are making a return trip to the NCAA Tournament, and it's the first time since 1994-95 that E-town is making back-to-back appearances, this time under coach Veronica Nolt.
E-town, which is set to appear in its 14th NCAA tourney, and Stevens, in the NCAA field for the sixth time, were two of 19 at-large selections by the DIII committee.
WBB | @BlueJaysWBB make it back-to-back @NCAADIII Tournament appearances for the first time since '93-94/'94-95! They will face Stevens in the First Round, game to be played at host Christopher Newport on Fri. 3/3! #FlyWithUs @EtownCollege @LandmarkConf pic.twitter.com/N9VoRSM39c
— Etown Athletics (@EtownBlueJays) February 27, 2023
