NORTHAMPTON, Mass. - For the first time since 2013, the Smith College basketball team is headed to the NCAA Championship as the Pioneers received one of 20 berths, it was announced Monday afternoon. Smith will face Merchant Marine at Bowdoin College on March 1 at 5:00 p.m.

2019 BRACKET

This is the second time in program history that head coach Lynn Hersey has led the Pioneers to the NCAA Championship with the last coming in 2013. Smith enters this year's tournament with a 21-6 record and is 12-1 in their last 13 games.

The Pioneers earned the No. 2 seed and played Springfield in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship Semifinal last Thursday, falling 48-46. Smith has been led all season by senior Lauren Bondi (Burnaby, BC, Can./Notre Dame Secondary) who is averaging 18.7 points per game and is shooting 43% from three-point range.

Sixteen first/second-round sites will be conducted March 1-2. Second-round winners will advance to one of four sectional sites March 8-9. Winners of the four sectional sites will advance to the national semifinals and final March 15-16. All games, except the semifinals/final, will be played on the campuses of competing institutions. The semifinals/final will be conducted at Cregger Center on the campus of Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia, hosted by the Old Dominion Athletic Conference and the City of Salem.

More information to come later in the week. 

About Smith Athletics: Smith College is an NCAA Division III member of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference that sponsors 11 intercollegiate sports. For more information log on to smithpioneers.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.