Tartans Selected to Host 2017 ECAC Championship
(DANBURY, Conn.) – The Carnegie Mellon University women's basketball team has been selected to host the 2017 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Women's Basketball Championship presented by Visit Myrtle Beach, making their third postseason appearance in five seasons. The Tartans are the overall top seed of a 15-team field after finishing the regular season with an 18-7 record.
The Tartans, who finished fourth in the University Athletic Association (UAA), receive a first-round bye and will host the remaining field on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, March 3-5. The Tartans will open Friday's play at 11:00 a.m. against the winner of Neumann University (18-8) and Brooklyn College (21-6) who play Wednesday, March 1 at Brooklyn.
Three other games will be played Friday at Carnegie Mellon at 2:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Semifinals will be held on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. with the final being played Sunday at noon.
Leading the Tartans is senior Lisa Murphy (McLean, Va./McLean) who is tops in the nation with a 79.9% field-goal percentage and ranks third in scoring with 24.6 points per game. The 6-1 center has posted 18 double-doubles for the season and averages 13.2 rebounds a game. She was named the UAA Player of the Year today for the second straight season after leading the Association in scoring, rebounding and blocks per game with 2.7.
Fellow senior Jackie Hudepohl (Saratoga, Calif./Lynbrook (Colgate)) is second on the team in scoring and rebounding with 14.8 points and 7.4 rebounds a game. The senior guard is shooting 43.0% from the floor and dishes out 3.2 assists a game while blocking 0.8 shots per game.
Last year, Murphy and Hudepohl helped the Tartans finish the postseason in the NCAA sectional semifinal for the first time in program history, tying the program record with 21 wins. This ECAC appearance will be the third for the Tartans, as they won the South Tournament in 2000.