COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College women's basketball team was selected for its first NCAA Tournament on Sunday night, and will oppose Southern Connecticut State University on Friday during the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division II East Regional Championship at James Moore Field House in New Haven, Conn. The Purple Knights were among 64 teams chosen for the national field.
 
Saint Michael's, which earned one of 41 at-large berths to the NCAA Tournament, drew the No. 8 seed in the region and will take on top-seeded Southern Connecticut State, which defeated Bentley University, the nation's ninth-ranked team, in Sunday's Northeast 10 Conference Championship title game. The Owls took the regular-season series, 2-1, this year, after the Purple Knights earned an 86-68 win in Moore Field House on Nov. 25, the most points Southern Connecticut State has yielded in a game over the past five seasons, before the Owls won both league affairs, including just 59-50 in Colchester on Jan. 24. The teams have never met in the postseason.
 
Friday features three other quarterfinals: No. 2 Bentley against No. 7 Mercy University, No. 3 Daemen University opposing No. 6 Felician University, and No. 4 Assumption University facing No. 5 Holy Family University. Winners meet in Saturday's semifinals before the regional titlist will be determined next Monday. Times and ticket prices will be announced this week. The regional champion advances to the Elite Eight, which begins at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh on March 24. A national champion will be crowned on March 28.
 
As the fifth seed, the Purple Knights opened NE10 Championship play with a 73-61 win at fourth-seeded American International College in the first round last Sunday. Junior Ashlee Talbot (Dracut, Mass./Dracut) scored 13 of her 17 points in the first half, and classmate Jayla Tyler (Albany, N.Y./Colonie Central/Saint Rose) also netted 17 points. Saint Michael's led for all but 28 seconds and never trailed. The Purple Knights registered their first postseason win since 2011 and registered the initial true postseason road victory in program annals.
 
In a semifinal on Thursday at top-seeded Bentley, the Purple Knights trimmed a 19-point deficit to eight with less than three minutes to go in a 69-55 loss. Sophomore Margaret Montplaisir (Portsmouth, N.H./Portsmouth) scored 14 points. Saint Michael's played its first conference semifinal since 1992.
 
Under 13th-year head coach Shannon Bollhardt, Saint Michael's carries a 15-13 mark after going 9-9 in league play. Both victory totals are the Purple Knights' most since 2010-11, and their fifth-place finish in the final NE10 standings was their best since 1993-94. The Purple and Gold, which is 5-2 in its last seven games heading into its contest at Southern Connecticut State (24-5), leads the NE10 in offensive rebounding (13.2), made free throws per game (12.5) and bench scoring (26.6) while placing second in steals per game (10.3).
 
Tyler paces the NE10 in offensive rebounding (3.4) while standing sixth in rebounding (7.4) and ninth in scoring (13.2), turning in eight of her nine double-doubles in the past 19 games. She adds 51 steals and 22 blocks while shooting 45.3%, and landed on the NE10 All-Conference second team. Montplaisir places 10th in the league with 13.1 points, all off the bench. She is tied for the NE10 lead in made threes per game (2.2) and is fourth in three-point shooting (37.9%).
 
Junior Amber Furch (Los Angeles, Calif./Brentwood School) turns in 7.6 points and a team-best 52 steals, classmate Ruby Santos (New Paltz, N.Y./Kent School) notches 7.3 points, 5.1 boards, 2.8 offensive rebounds, 43 assists and 42 steals, while fifth-year senior Molly Brophy (Greenwich, N.Y./Greenwich Central School) tacks on 6.7 points and 45 steals. Talbot leads the squad with 75 assists while contributing 6.5 points, junior Bella Franchi (Colonie, N.Y./Colonie Central) has 5.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 14 blocks, and first-year Jasmine Becotte (Pelham, N.H./Lawrence Academy) adds 5.1 points and 4.1 rebounds.