NEWPORT NEWS, Virginia - The University of Maine at Augusta women's basketball team was awarded a bid to the 2016 United States Collegiate Athletic Association National Championship Tournament, the USCAA announced this morning during the bid selection show. The Moose enter the tournament as the number four seed for the Division II bracket.

This will mark UMA's second trip to the national tournament and second for head coach Jennifer Laney. The Moose traveled to the tournament in 2014 as the number seven seed. 

The Moose completed the season with a 23-8 mark and a 12-1 record in the Yankee Small College Conference and earned runner-up honors, falling to YSCC Champion and number one seed in this year's national tournament, the College of Saint Joseph's of Vermont. 

"Each of our players has filled different roles at different times throughout the season," Laney said. "And we are coming together and playing some of the best basketball that we've played so far." 

UMA boasted two of the top five players in the conference with Jamie Plummer (Richmond, Maine) and Darby Toth (North Port, Fla.) who received YSCC All-Conference First Team honors, along with Caitlin LaFountain (Topsham, Maine) who received YSCC Second-Team All Conference honors. Plummer led the team with 15.0 points and 10.9 rebounds per game, while LaFountain averaged 13.7 points and 9.8 boards per contest. Toth led the team in assists and three-pointers made. 

Plummer is the lone remaining player from the 2014 national tournament team where she played in two games and recorded a double-double against Cincinnati-Clermont, but all of Laney's seven players have amassed a tremendous amount of experience over the season.

"For a young team we've developed a lot of experience, especially playing teams from some of the higher divisions this season," Laney said. 

One of the critical wins for UMA came on February 2nd against the  Division I University of Maine at Fort Kent, where the Moose came away with the 73-68 win.  UMA also suffered a tight 46-45 loss against Division II Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Science, who enter the tournament as the number three seed. 

UMA will take on number five seed Penn State Beaver on Thursday, March 3 at 9:30 p.m.