University of the Sciences women’s basketball coach Jackie Hartzell answered her phone Sunday evening on the bus.“Where are we, Joe, on the Turnpike?” she called out. Confirmed, New Jersey Turnpike. “We just passed 7A,” Hartzell said.category. The return trip to Philadelphia was from Caldwell, N.J., site of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference women’s basketball championship final.“I was able to keep it together before the game,” Hartzell said from the bus.
That’s the thing about this team … 15 players on the squad, including four freshmen, a sophomore, five juniors. They could have left. This is a top area NCAA Division II program. Most could have found a home. Actually, May thought she was done, with a year of eligibility left, since she was going to continue getting a graduate degree at Sciences, in occupational therapy, but her clinical rotation was 40 hours a week in Toms River, N.J. That’s an hour and 20 minutes in the most cooperative of traffic.The plan was for May to be a graduate assistant.’That meant some sacrifice for everyone, not just in playing time.
The ride continues for them both in this week’s NCAA Division II tournament. Sciences won the CACC automatic bid. Chestnut Hill rose to the top of the league this season. There was no doubt that team would get an at-large, but when a young Jefferson squad knocked off Chestnut Hill in the CACC semifinals, that secured an at-large for Jefferson. All three local schools will head to New Hampshire this week for the regional.