March Madness will officially be invading Hampshire County this week.
Both the Smith College and Amherst College women’s basketball teams punched their tickets to the upcoming NCAA Division 3 Tournament on Monday, as the brackets were revealed for the 64-team field.
Smith was an automatic qualifier for the tournament after winning the NEWMAC championship against Babson on Sunday in Northampton. The Pioneers went 23-2 on the season, running the table in the conference and capping it off with a dominant victory in the final.
The Pioneers will host Framingham State (22-3) in the opening round of the tournament on Friday at a time to be determined. The Rams won the MASCAC title on Sunday, beating Bridgewater State in the final.
The winner of that game would advance to play on Saturday against the winner of the Emmanuel-Brooklyn game.
Smith features former Hampshire Regional standout Katelyn Pickunka, who averages 11.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. The Westhampton resident had 11 points and 10 rebounds in Sunday’s final win over Babson.
Despite falling in the NESCAC title game to Bates on Sunday, the Amherst women’s basketball team picked up an At-Large bid into the Div. 3 field on Monday, and the Mammoths (21-3) will still get to host the opening round at LeFrak Gymnasium.
Amherst will welcome SUNY-Polytechnic Institute (20-6) for an opening round tilt Friday at a time to be determined. The winner of that contest would advance to Saturday’s second round and a showdown with the winner of the Rhode Island College-St. John Fisher College tilt.
It’ll be the first-ever postseason meeting between Amherst and North Atlantic Conference champion SUNY-Poly. The Mammoths are making their 14th straight appearance in the big dance with an all-time record of 49-12 in NCAA postseason history.
Amherst, which owns three national championships (2011, 2017, 2018), has made it to the national semifinals eight times.
The Wildcats beat Husson University for their first NAC Championship, earning the automatic bid.
The semifinals/final will be conducted at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh, Pa. March 17-19.