NORTHAMPTON, Mass.--The first home postseason game in school history gets underway on Wednesday night as No. 2 seeded Smith College hosts No. 7 Rivier College in the quarterfinal round of the ECAC New England Division III women's basketball tournament.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.   Tickets are $4 for adults, $2 for seniors, and $1 for non-Smith students.  All Smith students are admitted free with their One Card.  Fans can also follow the tournament via text message, by texting WomensNEHoops to 919-283-5123.


Last Meeting: This is the first meeting between the schools.

Smith Overview: The Pioneers are making their third ECAC appearance and second in as many years.  Smith fell to the University of New England in the quarterfinal round in 2011, and dropped a 70-62 decision to Amherst College in 1996.  The Pioneers advanced to the championship game of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference tournament on Saturday, but fell to No. 14 Babson College 74-51.

Rivier Overview:  The Raiders are making their first postseason appearance of any kind, after falling to St. Joseph's of Maine 59-58 in the semifinal of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference.  Rivier finished the regular season with a record of 18-9, with an 11-2 league mark. 

Smith Player to Watch: Paulina Solis (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) is scoring at a 14.4 per game average over the last five games, passing out two assists and two steals along the way. 

Rivier Player to Watch:  Anyone named Purcell - sisters Amandra and Deanna combine to average 38 points per game.  Senior Amandra is averaging 17.0 points per game, knocking down 82.7 percent of her free throws.  Freshman Deanna is even better, scoring at a 21.2 per game clip, good for 10th nationally.

Postseason Schedule: As the No. 2 seed, the Pioneers have an outside chance of hosting the semi-finals and finals of the tournament.  Should top-seeded Keene State College fall to No. 8 seed Regis, Smith would host the semi-finals at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 3, and the finals on Sunday, March 4, at 1 p.m.

Did you know?  Before coming to Smith, Kelly O'Connell coached softball and basketball at Rivier for five years, making two trips to the NCAA tournament.