ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT (21-6) women's basketball team will play University of New England (23-5) in the First Round of the 2018 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship on Friday, March 2 at 5 p.m. at Packer Hall on the campus of The College of New Jersey in Ewing, N.J. The winner will face the winner between TCNJ and Hilbert College in the second round on Saturday, March 3 at 5 p.m.

The Tigers received an at-large bid into this year's tournament after finishing the regular season with a program-record 21 wins. The Tigers lost to Skidmore College 65-42 in the Liberty League Tournament Championship last Saturday. Jessica Glaz (Rockaway Beach, NY/Scholars Academy) led RIT with 13 points, five assists and had three steals in the title game, earning All-Tournament Team honors.

RIT comes into the NCAA Tournament 21-6 overall and is 3-2 over its last five games. The Tigers enter the NCAA Tournament averaging 70.7 points per game, while allowing 56.5 points. The Tigers are shooting 42.4 percent as a team from the floor and 32.7 percent from beyond the arc.
 
Glaz leads RIT in scoring, averaging 13.9 points per game. She enters the NCAA Tournament needing 13 points to break the program's all-time scoring record of 1,466 points held by RIT Sports Hall of Fame member Amie Olson (Banis) '01. Glaz is second on the team in assists, averaging 2.4 per contest, and leads the team averaging 1.9 made three-point field goals per contest. Cori Okada (Fullerton, CA/Troy) is tied for second on the team in scoring, averaging 12.6 points per game. She needs 46 points to reach the 1,000-point milestone. Okada leads the team in assists, averaging 4.0 per game, and is second on the team, averaging 1.6 steals per game.
 
Tara Lynch (Green Township, NJ/Newton) is tied with Okada for second in scoring (12.6 PPG), and is second in field goal percentage (46.9 percent). Lynch became the ninth player in program history to score 1,000 points on Feb. 6 versus Ithaca. She leads the team, averaging 82.5 percent from the foul line. Freshman Sabrina Wolfe (Troy, NY/Troy) is fourth on the team in scoring (10.6 PPG), and second in rebounding (5.1 RPG). Senior Amanda Olsen (Glen Mills, PA/Archmere Academy) leads the team in rebounding (6.1 RPG), while classmate Sydney Frank (Haverford, PA/Friends' Central) leads the team in steals (1.9 SPG).

University of New England earned the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament with a win over Roger Williams 59-40 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference last Saturday. Five Nor'Easters scored in double figures. Sam MacDonald led UNE with 17 points, while Jocelyn Chaput tallied 14 points, and Olivia Shaw chipped in 12 points and nine rebounds. The win over Roger Williams was the Nor'Easters sixth straight CCC Tournament title. It is the seventh straight year UNE has made the NCAA Tournament, and eighth appearance overall.

University of New England enters the tournament with a 23-5 record. The Nor'Easters have won 10 straight games, outscoring their opponents by an average of 68.4-51.1 in that span. UNE enters Friday averaging 66.3 points per game, while allowing 55.6 per contest. The Nor'Easters are shooting 35.1 percent from the floor, and 25.8 percent from behind the arc.

Shaw leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.1 points per contest. MacDonald averages 13.1 points, while Ashley Coneys is third in scoring averaging 10.5 points per contest. Shaw leads the team in rebounding, averaging 9.7 rebounds, while Chaput leads the team dishing out 3.1 assists per game.

This is the first meeting between UNE and RIT.
 
Hilbert earned the automatic bid into this year's tournament with a 76-52 win over Mount Aloysius in the AMCC Championship last Saturday. The Hawks enter the NCAA Tournament with a 21-6 overall record, and average 65.5 points per game. Kelsi Ebert leads Hilbert in scoring, averaging 15.3 points per game. Emily Gawlak is second in scoring (12.3 PPG), while Ashley Repine leads the team in rebounding (8.1 RPG).
 
The College of New Jersey earned an at-large bid into this year's tournament and enter the weekend with a 21-6 overall record. The Lions average 67.1 points per game, while allowing 54.6 points. Jen Byrne leads the team in scoring, averaging 17.8 points per game. Shannon Devitt is second in scoring (10.0 PPG) and leads the team in rebounding, grabbing 10.0 rebounds per game.