Official Bracket
 
EWING, N.J. -  It's official: The TCNJ women's basketball team is back in the NCAA Tournament!
 
The Lions' return to the big dance comes following a 78-55 thrashing of top-seeded William Paterson in Sunday's NJAC Championship game, and will mark the program's 14th appearance in the tournament all-time and first since the 2017-18 season.
 
TCNJ will head to John Carroll for its first-round matchup in a pod that includes SUNY New Paltz and Immaculata. The Hawks and Mighty Macs will open festivities Friday evening, with the Lions and Blue Streaks set to tip off immediately following.
 
Headlining this year's TCNJ squad are All-Conference selections Amanda Baylock and Katie Fricker. A First Team selection, Baylock enters the tournament averaging a team-best 14.1 points to pair with 3.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists. The sophomore paces a Lions side that ranks third in the country in 3-pointers per game (10.2), averaging 2.52 at a nearly 35% clip.
 
Fricker, meanwhile, is averaging career-best marks in scoring (12.0), rebounds (6.9), assists (2.4) and steals (1.6) en route to a selection to the All-NJAC Second Team, and is coming off a 17-point outing – her third straight eclipsing double figures – in the Lions' win over the Pioneers.
 
Brooke McFadden (9.3 PPG, 8.7 RPG), Grace Kowalski (8.6 PPG, 3.5 APG) and Myah Hourigan-Hutton (4.1 PPG. 4.8 RPG) round out TCNJ's starting five, but it has been the production off the bench in Maddie Bernhardt (8.4 PPG, 1.85 3PG) and Riley Ahrens (8.3 PPG, 2.9 RPG) that has carried the Lions to heights not seen for the last eight years.
 
John Carroll enters the NCAA Tournament with a record of 24-4, falling to DePauw in the NCAC Championship game before receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in program history. The Blue Streaks – ranks 10th in the latest d3hoops.com poll – join TCNJ among the best in Division III in 3-pointers per game (8.8), and are led offensively by seniors Ava Ryncarz (14.5 PPG, 7.2 RPG) and Graci Semptimphelter (14.1 PPG).
 
SUNY New Paltz won an eighth SUNYAC Championship to earn an automatic bid to the big dance. The Hawks are an impressive 25-2 overall this season, and will ride a 17-game winning streak into their first NCAA Tournament game since 2023-24. Brianna Fitzgerald is the engine for SUNY New Paltz, pacing the Hawks in every major statistical category, and recorded the first quadruple-double in Division III since 2020 with her 15-point, 12-rebound, 10-assist and 11-steal statline in a win over SUNY Potsdam.
 
Immaculata will carry a 24-3 record into the NCAA Tournament, finishing a perfect 16-0 against conference opponents en route to a second straight Atlantic East title and automatic bid. Sophomore Carly Coleman matches SUNY New Paltz's Fitzgerald in leading her side in every major statistical category – she is averaging 17.2 points, 10.9 rebounds. 4.4 assists, 2.8 steals and 1.2 blocks per game – setting the table for an intriguing head-to-head between the forwards.
 
The Hawks and Mighty Macs will open the evening's games Friday, March 6 at 5:30 p.m. before TCNJ begins its quest for the program's first tournament win since 2018 with its matchup against John Carroll.