UNION, N.J. (3/3/08) - After capturing the New Jersey Athletic Conference women's basketball championship and earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament, Kean University will host first and second round action, beginning Friday, March 7. The Cougars (25-3) will take on Utica College (17-10) in one first-round game, while Brandeis University (18-7) battles University of Southern Maine (25-3) in the other match-up.

Ranked throughout the entire regular season, #12/13 Kean captured its second straight NJAC title with a 70-61 victory over host The College of New Jersey on Friday evening. The Cougars are one of three NJAC teams, as the Lions and William Paterson University also received at-large bids. Last season, the Cougars advanced to the Elite Eight for just the second time in program history and tied the 1986-87 Final Four team for most wins in a season (27). It is the first time Kean has hosted an NCAA tournament game since the 1998 men's soccer tournament.

Utica College won their first-ever Empire 8 Conference championship with a 55-46 victory over host Stevens Institute of Technology, earning their first NCAA tournament bid since 1986.

Brandeis was one of four University Athletic Association teams to earn bids to the NCAA tournament, as they finished 18-7 overall, 9-5 in the UAA. Overall, the Judges have a 5-4 record against teams in the tournament field. They split games with conference opponents University of Chicago, Washington University and University of Rochester, while also defeating Emmanuel College and Wheaton (Mass.) College. Brandeis also fell to Tufts University.

Southern Maine is appearing in their 14th-straight NCAA tournament and 22nd tournament overall after capturing the Little East regular season title. A 2006 Final Four team, the No. 11/13 Huskies fell to Eastern Connecticut State University in the conference tournament in overtime, 65-60.

Brandeis and Southern Maine square off on Friday, March 7, at 5:30 p.m., followed by the Utica-Kean game at 7:30 p.m. The two winners meet on Saturday, March 8, at 6 p.m.