New York, NY – For the first time in 15 years, the women's basketball team will compete in the NCAA Tournament. They will square off against host institution, Bowdoin College, which is located in Brunswick, Maine, on Friday night, March 1 at 7pm.
 
How They Got There
The Hawks earned their way into the big dance by way of a CUNYAC Championship; their first since 2004. Their impressive 15-1 CUNYAC record earned them the conference regular season title and compliments their 18-9 overall record. As the top seed in the conference tournament, they made quick work of #4 CCNY with a winning score of 92-61 to secure their spot in the finals. There, in front of the home crowd, they rallied from eight points down in the fourth and scored 24 points over the final six minutes to hold off the reigning champs in #2 Brooklyn College.
 
Hawks to Watch
The CUNYAC Player of the Year, First-Team All-Star and All-Tournament team selection, Jade Aponte has been a key figure for the Hawks this year. Leading the league in scoring with an average of 19.0 ppg, Aponte can knock down shots from anywhere on the court especially the charity stripe as proven by her .821 free throw shooting percentage.
 
Janine Conway, a CUNYAC First Team All-Star and Tournament MVP, compliments the Hawk offensive attack nicely with a 14.3 ppg average. The junior has six, 20-point games to her name and played a critical role in helping her team secure the CUNYAC Championship title.
 
Ashley Arias and Theresa Leung also play key roles for the Purple and Gold. Arias has more than double the amount of rebounds than any of her teammates and is averaging 28.9 minutes per contest while Leung is adding 8.8 points per game and leads the team in assists with 84.
 
NCAA Tournament History
The Hawks made their first NCAA Tournament during the 1998-99 season where they were bounced in the first round by Colby Sawyer. From 2002-04 they made three straight appearances but suffered the same outcome to Alvernia, Johns Hopkins and The College of New Jersey respectively.
 
First Time Out
This is the first meeting between these two teams in program history.
 
Scouting Bowdoin
The Polar Bears secured their at-large bid on the strength of a 26-1 overall record. They were a perfect 10-0 in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) and suffered their only loss of the season in the tournament finals to Tufts, 75-69.
 
Bowdoin has three players averaging double figures, led by Abby Kelly's 14.7 ppg; Maddie Hasson (14.6 ppg) and Taylor Choate (12.1 ppg) round out the trio. The Polar Bears out-score their opponents by an average of nearly 30 points per game and are better on the other end of the ball, out-matching their opponents in every defensive category.
 
Challenges
The Hawks have their hands full with Bowdoin as their opponent. Not only will they be playing in the Polar Bear's gym, they face a team that has won at least 20 games in each of the last six seasons, are the National Runner Up from a year ago, and have been in the NCAA Tournament every year since 2013-14.
 
Fan Guide
Tip-off will be at 7pm at Morrell Gymnasium on the campus of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine on Friday, March 1. Tickets can be purchased at the door and are priced as follows: $7 for adults, $4 for seniors (65+) and students with ID. If you can't make the game, follow along with LIVE STATS or watch a LIVE WEBCAST. The NCAA DIII Women's Basketball Tournament Interactive Bracket can be found here.