2019 BRACKET

ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team (22-5) was granted hosting right for the opening rounds of the NCAA Division III Championship during the NCAA Selection Show earlier today and will square off against SUNY Poly (23-5) on Friday inside Ben Light Gymnasium. The other half of the four-team pod is made up of MIT (21-7) and St. Joseph's (Maine) [27-1]. The two winners will play on Saturday for a trip to the sectional round.

GAME TIMES:
Round 1 (Friday, March 1)
MIT vs. St. Joseph's - 5 p.m.
Ithaca vs. SUNY Poly - 7 p.m.

Round 2 (Saturday, March 2)
Winner of game 1 vs. winner of game 2 - 5 p.m.

TICKETS:
$7 for adults
$4 for youth, students and senior citizens

ITHACA VS. REGIONAL FIELD: The Bombers did not play against any of the three teams in the regional pod, and in fact, has only play SUNY Poly during the program's 52-year history. IC is 2-0 all-time against SUNY Poly (formerly SUNY IT). The Bombers played the Wildcats in 2011-12 and 2012-13.

ITHACA VS. THE 2019 NCAA PLAYOFF FIELD: Ithaca went 4-3 this season against teams in the NCAA Tournament. The Bombers were 2-0 against Vassar, 2-1 vs. RIT, and 0-1 in matchups against UT-Dallas and Scranton.

ITHACA IN THE NCAA PLAYOFFS: The Bombers are making their 15th appearance in the NCAA Division III Championship and 14th since the 2000-01 season. Ithaca is 14-14 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and most recently made the Field of 64 last year. Last winter, the Bombers defeated SUNY Geneseo, 54-47, in the first round before falling to Tufts, 61-39, the following day. In 2016-17, Ithaca hosted a regional pod and topped RIT, 65-62, and then dropped an 83-80 decision to SUNY New Paltz. The 2014-15 postseason saw IC defeat Mount Saint Vincent College, 82-72, in the first round, and then dropped a 71-66 decision to Bowdoin. Ithaca's deepest run in the tournament took place during the 2013-14 campaign, as the Bombers reached the "Elite 8" after wins over Sage Colleges (67-30), Haverford College (54-43) and Amherst College (74-71 OT). The program's first NCAA victory came back in 1996-97 against Binghamton (73-66), which was the first-ever appearance for the Bombers.

THE 2019 CHAMPIONSHIP: The Division III Championship provides for a 64-team, single elimination playoff field. The 64 teams include 43 winners of conferences whose champions have been awarded automatic bids and 21 teams who received at-large bids. A total of 16 schools are hosting regionals this weekend. Four-team sectionals will be held at four campus sites on Friday and Saturday, March 8-9. Winners of the four sectional sites will advance to the national semifinals on March 15. The final will take place Saturday, March 16. All games, except the semifinals and final, will be played on the campuses of competing institutions. The finals will be held in Salem, Virginia.

A full preview on the upcoming weekend of games will be posted later this week.