Philly U Women's Hoops Readies For First NCAA Tourney Since '09

By Matt Leon

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- It was an emotional roller coaster of a weekend for the Philadelphia University women's basketball team.

On Saturday, the Lady Rams lost the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference title game to Holy Family 79-75, letting a ten point lead slip away in the final minutes. That meant Holy Family earned the league's automatic berth in the Division II NCAA Tournament, leaving Philadelphia University firmly on the bubble.

But the disappointment of Saturday turned into elation on Sunday night when it was revealed that Philadelphia University had made the NCAA field as an at-large team. They are the #7 seed in the East Region and on Friday they will open things up against the #2 seed New Haven in Garden City, New York.

"I think the sting of Saturday night went away pretty quickly on Sunday when we found out we got an at-large," Philadelphia University head coach Tom Shirley tells KYW Newsradio. "I think the fact that the body of work for the whole year with 22 wins was recognized, we really appreciated that."

Listen to the entire interview with Philadelphia University's Tom Shirley

This is the first NCAA Tournament berth for the Philadelphia University women since the 2008-2009 season.

"It's super exciting," Philadelphia University senior guard Najah Jacobs tells KYW Newsradio. "I'm going to be honest, I was super sad after the loss to Holy Family. But when we got the at-large bid, it was just like, this is another chance, we got this, so I'm very happy and excited."

Listen to the entire interview with Philadelphia University's Najah Jacobs

The Lady Rams will bring a 22-8 record into the tournament and they are led by Jacobs and her 19.7 points per game. Fellow senior guard Monica Schacker, who coincidentally transferred to Philadelphia University from New Haven, adds 13.7 points per game to the cause.

New Haven is 23-5 and they call the powerful Northeast 10 Conference home.

"They are very good," Shirley says. "They have the (Northeast 10) Player of the Year (Aquillin) Hayes who is terrific, she can do it all. And they have a pretty good supporting cast. They play a lot of man-to-man, which that league does, but they are a quick transition team."

Hayes averaged 18.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. She was also voted the NE 10 Defensive Player of the Year.

Shirley knows where the key to this one lies.

"We can score with anybody," Shirley says. "So it's a question of whether we can stop (defensively)."

Jacobs is ready to get started.

"We just have to be confident and stick together as a team as we've been doing all season and we'll be fine," Jacobs says.

Philadelphia University and New Haven tip off at 2:30pm on Friday. The winner gets the winner of Franklin Pierce and UDC in the second round on Saturday.

You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.