Mark it down as another high for the DePaul women’s basketball program this season. The team learned that they are the No. 3 seed in one region of the NCAA tournament, the highest they have ever received. That pits them against No. 14 Navy this Saturday, March 19.”We’re really excited and I think it’s something, just looking at bracketology the last couple days, we kind of expected it,” said sixth-year senior Deirdre Naughton. “Every time you go on ESPN it’s always updated, and I think everyone, especially this year is really looking forward to everything. March has been on our mind for months now.”
The biggest question will be whether the team can avoid another first-round exit. They are on a five-season streak of losing in the first round.
“We look that in the face, and we look at that as a positive,” said Head Coach Doug Bruno. “If we could rewrite our scripts over the last four years, would we have written ourselves a one and out scenario? No. But since we can’t rewrite our scripts, we look at those four years as great experience for these players. They’ve experienced going to the tournament, they’ve experienced what it’s like to play in the tournament, and while we haven’t had experience winning with this group yet, I look at it as a positive that they’ve been there, that they know what it’s like and know what it’s gonna take.”
Quigley, who has seen the last four straight first-round losses, said they were “trying to kind of get the monkey off our shoulder.”
Said Naughton: “Since the day we lost last year, it’s been something we’ve talked about every single day. It’s what kind of motivated us every day to work.”
Even with recent history against them, the team enters the tournament in as good a position as they have ever been. A 91-71 victory over No. 3/2 Stanford in December marked the program’s first victory over an opponent ranked that high. They also finished the season with 27 wins, tied for their highest mark ever.
“I’m very excited I mean it’s just an honor to be in the NCAA tournament and to be a three seed is another great honor,” said Keisha Hampton. “I don’t know too much about the team we play, but we just got to take it one game at a time.”
That team they play is Navy, who finished 20-11 this year and won the Patriot League. Hampton added that they would start working on their gameplan for the team shortly.
Maybe the most curious selection of the night for DePaul was when they found out they were in the same region as No. 1 UConn. After the entire bracket was announced, Athletic Director Jean Lenti Ponsetto told the crowd gathered at McGrath it was “unusual” considering DePaul had finished No. 2 in the conference.
“We didn’t get the most favorable draw,” she told the crowd, adding that she was not questioning the decision, simply pointing it out. At least one player noticed it too.
“I think we were a little surprised by the Connecticut draw with the one seed, but we’re just happy to be in it,” Quigley said.
“I’m excited for the team,” said junior Taylor Pikes, who was named Sixth Man of the Year in the Big East Conference earlier this season. “We got the highest seed ever, and I think we’re satisfied with No. 3. So we’re just gonna go out and play the game and hopefully we end up in the Final Four.”
The game tips off Saturday, March 19 at 12:40 p.m. Central time, at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pa. It can be seen on ESPN 2.