The Saint Vincent College women's basketball team has been selected to participate in the 2011 NCAA Division-III National Tournament.

The Bearcats, 24-4 overall, will take on Greensboro College (26-2), the runners-up of the USA South Conference, on Friday at 5:30.  The games will be hosted by Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA, which takes on Gallaudet University in the second opening round game on Friday at 7:30.
 

This marks the first ever NCAA tournament appearance for the Bearcats, who are in their first season of full eligibility in NCAA Division-III.  Previously a member of the NAIA, Saint Vincent made eight appearances in the NAIA National Tournament between 1989 and 2003.

 

Saint Vincent, which finished as runners-up in the 2011 Presidents' Athletic Conference tournament to number-one ranked Thomas More, received one of 21 at-large bids to the field of 64.

 

“This means a lot to the program, to the college, and to the team,” said interim head coach Jimmy Petruska.  Petruska took over the program in late December, following the death of longtime head coach Kristin Zawacki, the lone coach in the program's 27-year history. 

 

“Coach Zawacki's vision for us this year was to win the conference title and get to the national tournament,” Petruska said.  “We fell short of the first goal, but we've achieved the second one, and we have to go from there.  The sacrifice of many has gotten us here, with all of the adversity we've had to face this season.  Now, we're going to go back to our daily workouts, put in a few new offensive sets, and make sure our girls are rested and focused. Obviously, in this situation, we have to keep them calm and under control, because of course they're going to be pretty hyped up and energized.”

 

The Bearcats were led on the regular season by junior forward Brittany Sedlock (Northern Cambria, PA/Northern Cambria High School), who was selected as the 2011 PAC Player of the Year, leading the league in rebounding (9.2 rpg), while finishing second in scoring (16.9 ppg) and third in steals (81).  Also a First Team All-PAC pick, Sedlock was joined by senior guard Maria Baroffio and sophomore forward Devin McGrath, who each were named Second Team All-PAC selections.

 
The winner of Friday's game will take on the winner of the Juniata/Gallaudet contest on Saturday afternoon.  

The full bracket for the 2011 NCAA Division-III Women's Basketball Tournament can be found HERE.