Riverdale, NY - The University of Mount Saint Vincent punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in program history on the heels of their 21 point victory on the road against Manhattanville in the Skyline Conference Championship Tournament final. The Dolphins are set to face off against Christopher Newport University in Virginia this Friday in the opening night of the Championship Tournament. 

The Captains will be out for revenge, as they lost in the Division-III championship contest to Transylvania University just one year ago. The Dolphins, meanwhile, are still riding high from the conference tournament; and with their cinderella story already two games deep, the team believes they can ride their high against the best the country has to offer. 

After a tremendous come from behind victory at home against Farmingdale State College, the Dolphins went on the road for both the semifinal and final game, knocking both the Knights and Valiants - the Skyline's top two seeds - off by double figures to bring the hardware back to Riverdale. Amber Been, the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award recipient, has regained form after dealing with injuries for a majority of the regular season. The Bronx, New York native averaged a double-double throughout the playoffs with over 16 points and 11 rebounds per game while also swiping 4.3 steals a night as well. 

Ariella Johnson has taken a massive leap forward when the lights were at its brightest. The transfer sophomore from Division-II Concordia College averaged over 16 points across games against Farmingdale, Mount Saint Mary and Manhattanville while knocking down clutch shots in each contest. Magan Jackson has been able to navigate her way into the paint all season long, en route to a 13.9 points per game average to go along with 4.4 rebounds and nearly two assists. Kira Villegas went from the team's top defender to a legitimate two way threat that can score at all three levels, as evidenced by her conference-leading 93 steals to go along with the same per game points total as Jackson. 

Both Kayla Hanley and Anastasia Davis have been the glue that hold everything together, as they both due various things that show up outside of the stat sheet. Melanieann Broderick, JaKaia Lotz, Nailea Green and Julia Angeles have provided valuable minutes off the bench for head coach Maria Nardulli as well. 

The Captains, meanwhile, finished their regular season winners in 26 of their 27 games played. Hannah Kaloi, Alivia Giles and Camille Malagar each averaged double figures in scoring for Christopher Newport throughout the regular season while Gabbi San Diego generated the team's offense with a program-high 81 assists in just 20 games. 

The Dolphins and Captains go toe-to-toe this Friday at 8:15 PM inside the Freeman Center. You can catch all the action live on UMSVAthletics.com.