Women's Basketball NCAA Tournament Central

Live Broadcast (Westfield)	Live Stats		Game Program
Host Site Information (Directions, Tickets)			NCAA Tournament Full Bracket
Media Game Notes	Live Broadcast (Montclair)		NCAA Selection Show Video

WESTFIELD, Mass. - Westfield State University travels to play Montclair State (NJ) University in the opening round of the 2017 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship on Friday, March 3. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at the Panzer Athletic Center on campus in Upper Montclair, N.J.

The Owls are making their second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and their fifth overall. Westfield (19-8) earned an automatic bid to the tournament by winning the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament with an 83-74 win over Framingham State in the title game on February 18.

Montclair State (25-2) earned an automatic bid by virtue of winning the New Jersey Athletic Conference. The Red Hawks won their fifth consecutive league title.

Westfield State is led by Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year, Jill Valley. The 5-3 senior guard leads the nation in steals at 4.6 per game, and ranks seventh in the nation in scoring at 22.5 points per game. Valley has been at her best late in the season, scoring a school-record and NCAA season-high 52 points in the Owls final regular season game, then added 39 points in the league semifinals and 21 points in the championship game en route to tourney MVP honors.

The Owls play a version of "the system" subbing five players in every 45 seconds to a minute, and keep the tempo of the game at a breakneck pace. Westfield leads the nation in scoring at 89.6 points per game, and leads the country in steals per game (20.8), turnovers forced per game (34), and turnover margin (+15.4).

Valley gets scoring support from a trio of players. Sophomore forward Kierra McCarthy, who adds 11.2 points and five rebounds a game, sophomore guard Lucy Barrett, who nets 10.8 points per game and has drilled 39 three-pointers, and senior guard Kirsy Segarra, who adds 9.6 points per game and has connected on 35 three-pointers this season.

Owls' 6-0 junior center Rebecca Sapouckey is coming off a strong closing stretch to the season. In the last four games she has averaged nine points and 12 rebounds per game.

The Owls are coached by 12^th year head coach Andrea Bertini, who has led the Owls to six regular-season MASCAC titles in the last nine years, including three MASCAC tourney titles and three NCAA appearances.

Montclair will be making its seventh NCAA Tournament appearance and fourth consecutive. The Red Hawks played in the Final Four in 2015.
Montclair junior forward Kate Sire was named the NJAC player of the year. She averaged 16.2 points per game and 8.4 rebounds per contest while ranking in the Top 10 in the NJAC in five categories. She currently ranks fifth in scoring, sixth in rebounding, fourth in field goal percentage (.483), ninth in free-throw percentage (.713) and seventh in three-point percentage (.342).

Junior guard Kate Tobie was a second-team all-NJAC selection. The 5-11 Tobie is averaging 8.6 points and 5.2 assists per game. Rachel Krauss, a 5-10 guard averages 9.6 points and has made 73 three pointers this season. Zoe Curtis, a 5-8 guard scores 9.1 points and grabs 5.0 rebounds per game and has made 40 trifectas.

The Red Hawks are guided by 11^th year head coach Karin Harvey. Harvey has some connections to Western Massachusetts. In 1997, at Northampton High School, she made Massachusetts state history as she became the first female coach of a boys' high school team as the assistant varsity and freshman coach. Harvey spent two seasons at Smith College where she earned her master's degree in Exercise and Sports Studies in 2000.

The game shapes up on paper as a battle of pace vs. size. The Red Hawks have eight players listed at 5-10 or taller on their roster, while the 6-0 Sapouckey is the only Owl taller than 5-10, and the Owls play 5-1 Chelsea Moussette and 5-2 Alyssa Camara at the point as the Owls lost guards Allison Hester and Alyssa Darling to injury earlier this season.

Westfield's system will look to counter the size of the Red Hawks, who score 68 points and allow opponents just 51 points per game.

The two teams have met twice in the past, with Montclair topping Westfield both times. The Owls lost by a 58-50 count in the Dial Tournament in the 1988-89, and the Red Hawks took a 73-62 decision from the Owls in San Juan, Puerto Rico in December of 2013.

The other two teams in the Montclair pod are UMass-Dartmouth (22-5) and LaRoche (Pa.) College (23-4), who play at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. The winners of Friday's games will meet Saturday in Montclair for the right to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

If Westfield is able to advance, a meeting with LaRoche would be the first-ever between the two schools, while the Owls are 3-4 all-time against UMass Dartmouth, with Corsairs owning an 80-63 win over the Owls in North Dartmouth earlier this season. The Corsairs have been led by 5-11 forward Nakira Examond who scores 16.1 and 10.6 rebounds per game. Senior forward Tichina Mitchell leads LaRoche at 22.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.

Ticket prices are $6.00 for general admission and $3.00 for students, children under 12 and senior citizens.