CHESTER, Pa. – With their MAC Commonwealth Championship win over the Messiah University Falcons, Widener women's basketball is going to the NCAA Tournament.

The Pride's first-round opponent is the Springfield College Pride, a team from Springfield, Mass. The game will be played on Friday, March 1 at 4 p.m. at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.

Widener is 23-4 on the season (11-3 MAC Commonwealth). They took down top-seeded Messiah in Grantham, Pa. behind a strong second half. The Pride outscored the Falcons 46-30 in the last 20 minutes. Mia Robbins had a team-high 23 points.

Springfield is 22-5 (10-1 NEWMAC). The Pride have played well this season, and they have had ranked opponents in their schedule. They fell to then #4 Rhode Island College 53-40 on Dec. 11. The Springfield Pride faced Smith College twice, since Smith is also in the NEWMAC. The two split the season series, with Springfield defeating then #17 Smith by two points at Smith. But, when Smith was #18, they won by one point in double overtime at Springfield. Springfield lost to Babson in the NEWMAC Semifinals 64-59 in overtime.

Springfield won the only game over Widener in the all-time series. It was an 86-74 decision on Nov. 18, 2007 at DeSales as part of DeSales' Tip-Off Tournament.

The winner of this game will advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament to face either Brooklyn or Bates, the latter of whom is hosting these four teams this weekend.