INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Saint Anselm College women's basketball team has been selected for the 2025 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championship, announced on Sunday night during the NCAA Selection Show. It marks the program's 10th NCAA tournament selection and its first since the 2020 season.
Saint Anselm secured the fourth seed in the East Region and will face fifth-seeded Southern Connecticut State (SCSU) in the opening round of the tournament. That game will be played on Friday, March 14th at 7:30 p.m. in Waltham, Mass.
It will be the first-ever meeting in the NCAA tournament between the Hawks and the Owls, and their third matchup this season. Saint Anselm won both regular season contests and holds a 15-19 all-time record against SCSU. The most recent contest ended in an 80-75 overtime victory for the Hawks. Senior Katie Lemanski (Haymarket, Va.) knocked down a buzzer-beating three-pointer to force overtime at the end of regulation.
Bentley earned the top seed in the East Region and will serve as the host site for all of the region's tournament games up until the Elite Eight. A total of five programs from the Northeast-10 Conference (NE10) were selected to this year's NCAA tournament.
The winner of the first-round matchup between Saint Anselm and SCSU will advance to take on the winner of Bentley and No. 8 seed New Haven. The other side of the East Region bracket features No. 2 seed Daemen vs. No. 7 seed Jefferson, and No. 3 seed Holy Family vs. No. 6 seed Assumption.
Saint Anselm enters the tournament with a 17-9 overall record. It is the program's most wins in a single season since winning 21 games during the 2019-20 campaign, when the team was last selected for the NCAA postseason. They also finished the regular season 14-6 in conference play, earned the No. 2 seed in the NE10 Championship, and were ranked No. 3 in the most recent NCAA East Region rankings.
The Hawks had four student-athletes named to the 2025 NE10 All-Conference Teams, headlined by one major award winner. Senior Melanie Hoyt (Stamford, N.Y.) was named NE10 Player of the Year after leading the conference in scoring (18.0 points per game) and field goal percentage (55.9 percent). She also earned a spot on the All-Conference First Team, where she was joined by junior Tatum Forbes (Pawtucket, R.I.). Forbes finished second on the team in points (11.6 points per game), rebounds (6.7 rebounds per game), assists (4.8 assists per game), and blocks (0.8 blocks per game) while leading the team in steals (2.2 steals per game, third in the NE10).
For the first time in program history, a pair of Hawks teammates were selected to the All-Rookie Team in the same season: sophomore Elise MacNair (Old Orchard Beach, Maine) and freshman Addisen Sulikowski (Saco, Maine). MacNair averaged 8.8 points per game, led the team in three-point shooting (32.8 percent), and ranked second in field goal percentage (43.0 percent). Sulikowski led the team in made three-pointers (45), and ranked third on the team in points (9.4 points per game), rebounds (5.7 rebounds per game), and total blocks (10). She also finished second on the team in steals (37 total, 1.3 steals per game).
The Hawks are set to play in their first NCAA tournament game since 2019. They were also selected to the 2020 edition of the tournament, but it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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