The best season in the 26-year history of women's basketball got a little longer this week when the team got it's first-ever invitation to play in the ECAC tournament.
Seeded second in the four-team event, the Dutchwomen play No. 3 Rochester Saturday at 8 p.m. at Nazareth College. Top-seed Nazareth plays No. 4 Geneseo Saturday at 6 p.m. The championship is Sunday at 2 p.m.
“This shows just how far this program has come over the last couple of seasons,” said sixth-year coach Mary Ellen Burt, an assistant at Rochester before coming to Union.
The team finished the regular season at 17-7 before adding another win and a loss in the UCAA tournament. Their 18-8 record is the best ever. The previous best was a 13-10 during the 1978-79 campaign.
The team will play without junior guard Katie Smith, Union's leading scorer (15.1 pts. per game) who is out with a knee injury. She has scored 1,073 points in only three seasons, putting her fifth on the all-time list.
On the ice, the irony isn't lost on six seniors on the men's hockey team who were recruited by Colgate assistant Stan Moore while he was a coach at Union. A win or tie over Colgate would secure Union a playoff spot, at the same time eliminating Colgate from the playoffs.