Bates women’s basketball (16-9) plays Southern Virginia University (26-2) in the first round of the NCAA DIII tournament at the John Long Center in Scranton, Pa. today at 4:15 p.m.

Bates received an at-large bid for the tournament for the third time in the last four years, following up a 2024 campaign to the “Sweet 16” round.

Southern Virginia women’s basketball won the USA South Conference finishing their season with an undefeated 19-0 conference record. The Knights are led by junior guard Abigail Snyder who is averaging 12.7 points per game and shooting 40.8 percent from the field. Bates will also look to limit junior center Ruth Kempler (Santa Clarita, Ca.) and senior guard Addison Newman who are both averaging just under ten points a game. 

Bates has the advantage in three-point shooting percentage at 32.5 percent while Southern Virginia is shooting at 27.5 percent from behind the arc. 

The Bobcat’s leading three-point shooters include senior captain and guard Alexandra Long , sophomore guard Sarah Hughes and junior guard Ava James (Bethesda, Md.) who will all look to complement junior Center Elsa Daulerio (Harpswell, Me.) on the offensive end. 

Daulerio was recently named first team All-NESCAC for the second year in a row. Daulerio leads the team in points and rebounds per game with 15.2 and 9.1 on average. She is accompanied by Long who was selected as second team All-NESCAC for the second straight season. Long holds a 40 percent three-point shooting percentage and leads the NESCAC in assists with an average of four per game.

With a team average of 70.6 percent at the line, Bates will need to capitalize on free throws in this stage of the tournament. 

The winner of the Bates-Southern Virginia game will take on No. 3 nationally ranked Scranton or Mt. St. Mary in the second round on Saturday, March 8, at 6:45 p.m. 

The game is available to stream on NCAA.com.