GREELEY — Savannah Smith sat with her teammates Monday around a table in front of a television and waited to see the name of their school, Northern Colorado, flash on ESPN. Nerves ran high — “I think I was shaking at one point,” Smith said — until it was finally made official.
For the first time since joining the Division-I ranks, the UNC women’s basketball team is NCAA Tournament bound as a No. 10-seed facing No. 7 Michigan in the first round. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. Friday in Waco, Texas, with the game broadcast on ESPN 2. As it was announced, the women’s team exploded in screams, hugs and high-fives.
Northern Colorado WBB earns a No. 10 seed and will play No. 7 Michigan in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday. Quite the reaction from the Bears.
— Kyle Fredrickson (@kylefredrickson)
“Itap all so surreal, really,” said Smith, UNC’s senior leading-scorer (18.6) who formerly starred at Fossil Ridge High School down the road in Fort Collins.
Just don’t count these Bears in the lucky-to-be-here category of tournament play. They punched their ticket with a Big Sky Tournament championship, but earned their seeding with nonconference victories against LSU, Brigham Young and at DePaul — the Big East Tournament champions. The Bears enter Friday as winners of 13 straight, and among all No. 10-seeds, UNC (26-6, 14-3) is the only program not hailing from a major college conference.
“They’ve grabbed hold of this opportunity and we’ve played our best basketball in the last three weeks,” Bears coach Kamie Ethridge said. “Itap just been amazing to watch us progress.”
Ethridge called Smith the “Poster Child” of the program after being named the conference’s regular season and tournament MVP. She’ll need continued stellar play to upend Michigan (22-9, 10-6 Big Ten).
“I know a few people are driving down to Waco, road-tripping last minute to come in see us, so hopefully we’ll have a few fans there,” Smith said. “The support is just amazing.”
WNIT berths. Mountain West foes CSU (20-11, 11-7) and Wyoming (21-10, 13-5) each accepted at-large bids to the WNIT. The Rams will host Western Illinois (22-9) at 7 p.m. Thursday. The Cowgirls will host New Mexico State (18-12) at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
