BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The 2015 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament pairings have been announced and the Bridgewater State University Bears will travel to Salisbury, Maryland to take on Salisbury University in an opening round contest on Friday evening, March 6th, at 7:00 PM.
Salisbury (25-2) is hosting a four-team pod at the Maggs Center with Richard Stockton College (21-6) taking on McDaniel College (24-3) in the other first round match-up at 5:00 PM. The winners will advance to play a second round game on Saturday evening at 6:00 PM also at Salisbury. Game times have yet to be announced.
Bridgewater State will be making its' fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance, sixth in the last eight years and tenth overall. The Bears also made four straight trips to the national tournament from 1983 to 1986.
BSU enters the tournament with an overall mark of 16-10. Bridgewater earned the automatic qualifier to the NCAAs by winning the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Tournament championship on Saturday with a 60-57 victory over top-seeded Westfield State University. The Bears were the #2 seed at the MASCAC Tournament after posting an 8-4 conference mark during the regular season.
The BSU women's basketball team is under the watchful eye of 18-year head coach, Bridgett Casey. The four-time (2008, 2010, 2012, 2013) MASCAC Coach of the Year sports a career mark of 275-193 (.588) including a conference regular season record of 140-76 (.648). Casey's 275 wins are by far the most in program history as she is the only BSU women's basketball coach to reach the 200-win milestone.
On the court, Bridgewater State is led by All-MASCAC senior forward Megan Boutilette (Charlton, Mass.) and senior guard Rachel Kusz (Worcester, Mass.).
Boutilette enters the tournament averaging 11.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 3.9 steals and 1.6 blocked shots while shooting 48% (104-216) from the floor. She leads the MASCAC in steals and is third in the conference in field goal percentage, fourth in blocks and fifth in rebounding. She also ranks sixth in all of Division III in steals.
Boutilette is the Bears' all-time leader in rebounds (899), steals (338), field goal percentage (.534) and games played (110). She also ranks fifth in scoring with 1,176 points.
The MVP of the MASCAC Tournament, Kusz is currently averaging 9.9 points a game and is shooting 38% (62-163) from three-point range and 71% (24-34) at the free throw line. She set the Bears' single-season record for made three-pointers during the championship game win over Westfield State as she now has 62 on the year.
Salisbury also earned a spot into the tournament with an automatic bid, after downing the University of Mary Washington in the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) title game this past weekend, 74-68, in a double-overtime battle.
Under the direction of fourth year head coach Kelly Lewandowski, the #18 ranked Gulls are making their sixth appearance in the national tournament and first since the 2001-2002 campaign. Lewandowski, the CAC Coach of the Year, has produced an overall record of 73-34 (.682) in her first four seasons as the Gulls' skipper.
Salisbury is ranked 18th in the most recent USA Today Sports Division III Poll and 19th in the most recent D3hoops.com Poll.
The Gulls are led by CAC Player of the Year Anna Hackett (Germantown, Md.). In 27 games this season, Hacket is averaging 17.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.4 steals while shooting 42% (38-91) from behind the arc and 88% (113-128) at the free throw line. The senior guard has totaled 1,724 through her four seasons, placing her second in program history.
2015 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament Bracket (PDF)