Saint Rose learning from NE-10 loss heading into NCAA Tournament

ALBANY, NY (NEWS10) -- The Saint Rose women's basketball team is going dancing, punching their ticket to the Division-II NCAA Tournament. With the school set to close at the end of the academic year, every win extends the life of the program.

Saint Rose went 21-5 in the regular season, before falling to Southern Connecticut State in their first game of the NE-10 conference tournament. Since they were unable to lock up the conference's automatic bid, the Golden Knights spent the last week in limbo.

After losing on Sunday, March 3, Saint Rose had to wait a full week for the Selection Sunday show. They finally heard their names called, earning the third seed in the East Region. They'll take on sixth-seeded Daemen on Friday at noon at Bentley University.

The Golden Knights believe they've learned from their loss in the NE-10 tournament. "I think we were tight in the conference tournament," said head coach Will Brown. "I think it was the first time our players felt the weight of the expectations and I think our players fell into that trap where I think they thought we were going to win and I think they felt Southern Connecticut was going to go away at some point in that game. To Southern's credit they didn't. It was a good learning experience for us. Now I think we'll be really sharp. I think we'll be focused. Everything has to be about this game Friday. It can't be about winning the East Region, it's got to be about beating Daemen on Friday."

"We saw what happened when we lost to Southern Connecticut and we all hated that feeling and just sitting around waiting to know if we had another chance to go play when we knew we were the better team," said junior Syrita Faraj. "Sitting there waiting around, it kind of sucked. So getting this chance right now we're going to use all of that motivation that we should have used against Southern Connecticut and just try to dominate this tournament as much as we can."

With Saint Rose set to close, every game for this team could be the program's last. Half of the team's 14 players are from the Capital Region. For them, it would make a tournament run even more special. "We have so many local players here and we kind of just want to do it for the community," said Faraj, a Tamarac graduate. "It would be nice to finish out this entire tournament with us on top."

"With me I just think it shows how much everyone really loves this place and how much it has made an impact on so many people," said Schalmont graduate and sophomore Payton Graber. "I came to games growing up so I know how much it means to everyone and how important this place is."