Saints Women Secure Bid to National Tournament

March 3, 2022

The Saints celebrate their National Tournament bid. SARANAC LAKE – For the third consecutive season, the North Country Community College women’s basketball team is headed to the big dance.

The Saints (19-4) have been awarded an at-large bid to the NJCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Tournament, which will take place March 9-12 in Rochester, Minnesota. North Country secured the No. 12 seed and will take on No. 5 Monroe-Bronx (21-7) at 3 p.m. ET on March 9.

The news of the at-large bid came Wednesday during the tournament selection show, which was livestreamed in the Sparks Athletic Complex. Players, coaches, supporters of the team, and college administration, faculty and staff gathered to watch, and all erupted in cheers when the Saints were announced as tournament bound.

“The girls have worked very hard this season and have earned this bid,” said Saints Head Coach Jerrad Dumont.

Last weekend North Country played in the Region III Championship, but its push for a third-consecutive regional title was up-ended in a 57-45 loss to Onondaga Community College, which secured the No. 3 seed in the national tournament.

In years past, that would have spelled the end of the season for the Saints, but for the first time this year the selection committee awarded at-large bids to the women’s tournament. That move expands the field of teams who will play for a national title in Minnesota from eight to 12. Members of the women's basketball team, coaches and their supporters react to the news that the team is headed to the National Championship Tournament in Minnesota.

“I think that receiving an at-large bid shows a lot of respect for our team,” Dumont said. “It shows that we are recognized nationally as one of the best teams in the country.”

Making the national tournament for the third consecutive year is unprecedented for the college and shows the strength of, and support for, its basketball program, Dumont added.

“Starting with the support from our athletic director along with my fellow coaching staff within the department, we have been able to build a culture that not only wants to succeed but understands what it takes to succeed,” he said.

The college will host a send-off for the team at noon on Friday in the Connector on the Saranac Lake campus.

All of the games in the tournament will be livestreamed on the NJCAA Network at https://www.njcaa.org/network.