Union women's basketball earns first-round matchup with Smith in Division III tournament

Union College women's basketball's prize for winning its first conference title in 22 years? A date with a team that's been in the national championship game each of the last two years.

Brackets for the NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament were released Monday afternoon and Union, which beat RIT on Sunday in the Liberty League tournament final, drew a first-round game Friday against Smith.

The game will take place at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, which earned one of the 16 host slots for first- and second-round games on Friday and Saturday. The Union-Smith winner will  move on to Saturday to face the winner of Friday's game between Bates and Merchant Marine.

Union (22-5) is in the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in school history. The program's only other tournament appearance came in 2004. That was also the last year Union won a conference championship, back when the Liberty League was still called the Upstate College Athletic Association.

The Garnet Chargers return to the national tournament thanks to a 10-game winning streak that took coach Katie Marcella's team through the end of the regular season and the conference tournament. Union hasn't lost since a 71-54 setback against Skidmore on Jan. 27, with seven of the wins during the streak coming by double-digits.

Four different players average double figures in scoring for Union, led by Jelena Perovic's 13.7 points per game.

Smith (27-1), the Division III runner-up in both 2024 and 2025, has won its last 13 games entering the tournament and captured the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference championship on Sunday. The Bears boast one of the nation's best defenses, allowing 50.3 points per game.

Times for first- and second-round games have not been announced. The third and fourth rounds will be played at four sectional sites next weekend, with the final four set for March 19 and 21 in Salem, Va.

Two-time defending Division III national champion NYU, coached by Meg Barber of Hoosick Falls, will host games in the first two rounds. The 25-0 Violets have won 87 consecutive games, the longest winning streak in Division III history, and are one win away from matching the NCAA men's all-time record set by John Wooden's UCLA teams from 1971 to 1974.

This article originally published at Union women's basketball earns first-round matchup with Smith in Division III tournament.