The Assumption women's basketball team (21-7) begins play on Friday night in the 2011 NCAA Tournament as the Greyhounds take on No. 5 Saint Rose. The Greyhounds are making their fourth all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since the 2007-2008 season. The Greyhounds have advanced to the regional semifinal in their previous three appearances.

This Season vs. Saint Rose: The Greyhounds swept the regular-season series from Saint Rose, including a season-opening, 69-65 win in Albany and a 63-44 victory in Laska Gym on February 3rd. The all-time series between the two teams stands at 12-6 in favor of the Greyhounds, including two straight and seven of the last 10 contests.

This is the second time the Greyhounds and Golden Knights have met in the NCAA Tournament. The first time was the first-ever meeting between the two teams, which came on March 11, 2000 in the NCAA Regional Semifinals. Saint Rose took that game by an 88-69 final at Siena College in Loudonville, N.Y.

The Greyhounds This Season vs. the Field: Assumption has met four of the teams in the regional during the 2010-2011 regular season, with a combined record of 2-5 vs. the field. This is the fourth NCAA appearance for Assumption, with the Greyhounds advancing to the regional semifinals in each of their three previous appearances. Below is the team's record this year vs. each team.

vs. Bentley: 0-1 (67-61 loss in Worcester on 1-15-11)
vs. Holy Family: Did not meet
vs. Franklin Pierce: 0-2 (75-72 loss in Worcester on 1-19-11, 90-75 loss in Rindge on 3-4-11)
vs. Saint Rose: 2-0 (69-65 win in Albany on 11-17-10, 63-44 win in Worcester on 2-3-11)
vs. Pace: 0-2 (66-60 loss in Worcester on 1-2-11, 75-37 loss in Pleasantville on 2-5-11)
vs. Goldey-Beacom: Did not meet
vs. C.W. Post: Did not meet

NCAA Regional Matchups: This year's NCAA East Regional features five teams from the Northeast-10 Conference, two from the CACC and one from the ECC. The automatic qualifiers are Bentley (NE-10), Goldey-Beacom (CACC) and C.W. Post (ECC). Below is the complete schedule for the regional.

 NCAA East Region Field
1. Bentley (Northeast-10 Tournament Champion)
2. Holy Family (at-large)
3. Franklin Pierce (at-large)
4. Assumption (at-large)
5. Saint Rose (at-large)
6. Pace (at-large)
7. Goldey-Beacom (CACC Tournament Champion)
8. C.W. Post (ECC Tournament Champion)

2011 NCAA East Regional Schedule (at Bentley University - Waltham, Mass.)

Friday, March 11
NCAA Regional Quarterfinals
No. 3 Franklin Pierce vs. No. 6 Pace – Noon
No. 2 Holy Family vs. No. 7 Goldey-Beacom – 2:30 p.m.
No. 1 Bentley vs. No. 8 C.W. Post – 6 p.m.
No. 4 Assumption vs. No. 5 Saint Rose – 8:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 13
NCAA Regional Semifinals
FPU/Pace winner vs. HFU/Goldey-Beacom winner – Noon
Bentley/CWP winner vs. Assumption/Saint Rose winner – 2:30 p.m.

Tuesday, March 15
NCAA Regional Championship
Semifinal winners – 6 p.m.

The Greyhounds in the Northeast-10 Tournament: The Greyhounds reached the semifinals of the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament for the fourth time in the program's history this season with a 59-51 home victory over American International in the league quarterfinals. Each of these semifinals appearances have all come over the last 10 years, under head coach Kerry Phayre.

All-Time in the NCAA Division II Tournament: The Greyhounds are making their fourth all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament, posting a 2-3 overall mark in those appearances. Assumption has appeared in the regional semifinals in each of their its previous appearances in the national tournament. Senior guard Molly Griffiths is the lone senior and captain of this year's team and the lone player that has appeared in the NCAA Tournament with the Greyhounds. That came during her freshman season in 2007-2008.

20-Win Milestone: Assumption enters the NCAA Tournament with a 21-7 overall record, which is the fifth 20-win season in the program's history and the second over the last four years. The Greyhounds' 21 wins is the second-most in program history, with the most successful records since 1972-73 listed below.

1. 2007-2008 - 22-10
2. 2010-2011 - 21-7
3. 2003-2004 - 21-9
4. 1999-2000 - 20-9
5. 2000-2001 - 18-10

Postseason Honors for Meredith, Griffiths: Junior forward Kelly Meredith and junior guard Molly Griffiths have both been honored for their play during the 2010-2011 season. Both were named to the 2010-2011 Northeast-10 All-Conference First Team, while Meredith was also named as a Daktronics East All-Region First Team selection. Meredith leads the Greyhounds with 19.3 points per game, along with 5.7 rebounds while posting three double-doubles. Meredith also ranks sixth in the Northeast-10 in field goal percentage with a team-leading 51.2 percent shooting from the floor. Griffiths, who leads the Northeast-10 in three-point shooting percentage at 47.1 percent, averages 12.7 points and a team-best 8.5 rebounds per game. In addition, Griffiths posted a team-best five double-doubles during the 2010-2011 season.

Career-High Performance: Sophomore point guard Katy Howard posted a career-high 25-point performance in a Northeast-10 Tournament semifinal loss at No. 3 seeded Franklin Pierce last week. Howard was 9-for-19 from the field, including a pair of late-game three-pointers that got the Greyhounds back to within striking distance late in the game. Howard's 25-point effort eclipsed her previous career high of 18 points, which was set in her first career game at Saint Rose on November 18, 2009. Howard has started 54 of her 57 career games played over her first two years at Assumption. As a freshman, she was named to the Northeast-10 Conference All-Rookie Team.

Northeast-10 Conference Weekly Award Winners: Below are the Northeast-10 Conference Weekly Award winners for Assumption during the 2010-2011 season.

Nov. 22 - Kelly Meredith, Honor Roll
Nov. 29 - Kelly Meredith, Player of the Week
Dec. 6 - Kelly Meredith, Player of the Week
Dec. 13 - Gabrielle Gibson, Honor Roll
Jan. 3 - Molly Griffiths, Honor Roll
Jan. 10 - Kelly Meredith, Honor Roll
Jan. 17 - Kelly Meredith, Honor Roll
Jan. 24 - Molly Griffiths, Honor Roll
Jan. 31 - Molly Griffiths, Player of the Week
Feb. 7 - Kelly Meredith, Honor Roll
Feb. 21 - Kelly Meredith, Honor Roll
Feb. 28 - Kelly Meredith, Player of the Week