Wesleyan University

After thinking another outstanding season had come to a close with a loss in the NESCAC Tournament February 19, the Wesleyan women's basketball received a surprise invitation as one of 50 teams selected for the NCAA Division III Championship.

Wesleyan, seeded third in its six-team bracket, will host Chestnut Hill College, seeded sixth, Wednesday, March 2, at 7:30 p.m. Chestnut Hill stands 19-9 on the season and received an automatic bid to the tournament as the winner of the Atlantic Women's Colleges Conference (AWCC) post-season tournament. Wesleyan has a 20-4 record, its third consecutive 20-win season, and was seeded fourth in the NESCAC Tournament which began Feb. 19. The Cardinals fell to fifth-seeded Amherst, 55-53, apparently ending the campaign.

But the NCAA had a different idea as the 50-team field was announced Sunday night with Wesleyan included. Of the 50 teams, 39 received an automatic bid as a conference winner. Four others were selected at large as independents or from conferences that do not have an automatic bid to the tournament. The final seven teams were at-large choices from the non-champion teams of 39 automatic-bid conferences. Surprisingly, two of those seven bids went to members of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) as both tournament runner-up Bates College (24-2) and Wesleyan were picked for the national field. Bowdoin College (24-2), which played in the NCAA title game in 2004, was the NESCAC Champion for the fifth straight season.

The other teams in Wesleyan's bracket include NEWMAC champion Springfield College (22-5), which Wesleyan defeated 74-53 on Dec. 10, 2004 ; Richard Stockton (18-9), the New Jersey Athletic Conference winner ; Mount St. Mary's (N.Y.) (27-1), winner of the Skyline Athletic Conference ; and Staten Island (26-2), the CUNYAC champion. Springfield hosts Richard Stockton Wednesday with the winner advancing to play Mount St. Mary's on Saturday. The Wesleyan-Chestnut Hill winner plays at Staten Island Saturday at 4 p.m.

"I'm thankful our season is not over," said Wesleyan head coach Kate Mullen. "You rarely get a second chance in sports and we intend to make the most of it. I'm especially happy for our two seniors who were not ready to have the season end as it did."

This is Wesleyan's first trip to the national tournament after coming close with a 21-4 record in 2002-03, and being the last team not chosen for the tournament a year ago with a 20-4 mark. Last year, Millikin was the final team picked for the tournament and won its first-round game before falling in the second round.

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FOLLOW-UP SUMMARY - Wesleyan defeated Chestnut Hill, 64-46, for its first ever NCAA win. The Cardinals used a 12-2 run over a 6:15 span between the first and second halves to turn a 25-23 edge into a 37-27 lead and gradually extended the margin to an many os 26 points (64-38) before settling for the final score. Junior Ashley Mastrangelo took game scoring honors with 21 points. The team traveled to Staten Island to take on the Dolphins in a second-round game and prevailed, 73-64, paced by Junior Hannah Stubbs' 26 points as she became the first Wesleyan woman to go over 1,000 points for her career before the end of her junior year. It took 71-percent shooting by the Cardinals in the second half to secure the win. The Cardinals were knocked out of the tournament by Springfield College, 62-56, in a Sweet 16 game played at the U. of Southern Maine. Wesleyan recovered from a 16-7 deficit from the outset to catch the Pride and take a 25-24 lead at intermission. Moving ahead, 30-25, early in the second half, Wesleyan hit a dry spell to trail, 36-33, before the game became a see-saw affair. Three points was the largest margin until Springfield went up 49-45 with 7:05 to go. It was 56-50, Springfield with 2:45 to play but a pair of Wesleyan baskets (Mastrangelo and senior Nora Bowman) made it 56-54 with 1:37 remaining. After a Pride free throw, a jumper by Stubbs made it 57-56 with :49 to go and Wesleyan had a chance to tie with a three-point try in the final 30 seconds, but the shot missed the mark and Springfield added three free throws for the final score. Mastrangelo had 17 points to lead all scorers while Stubbs added 12 and Bowman 11. Wesleyan ended its winningest ever season with a record of 22-5.