Postseason on tap for Thoroughbred teams

Skidmore?s women?s basketball team and men?s hockey team begin the quest for a trip to the NCAA Division III championships this weekend, while diver Doug Pilawa ?12 looks to continue his record-setting season at the New York State Championships.

The women?s basketball team won five of its last six games to grab the final spot in the four-team Liberty League Tournament. The 11-14 Thoroughbreds finished 8-6 in league competition and will play top-seed and host Union College at 8 p.m. Friday. Rensselaer and St. Lawrence play the other semifinal at 6 p.m. The championship game gets under way at 3 p.m. Saturday; the winner gets the league title and an NCAA tournament berth.

The Dutchwomen swept the Thoroughbreds during the season, winning 77-57 on Jan. 13 and 64-50 on Feb. 3. The Thoroughbreds have won five of six since that Feb. 3 loss. Sharlyn Harper ?10 leads the team in scoring with 10.6 points per game. Kellye Caufield ?09 has 10.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. This is the team?s first Liberty League tournament appearance and first post-season tournament since the 2000-2001 season.

The hockey team is seeded sixth in the eight-team ECAC East tournament and will travel to third-seed Salem State to play at 3 p.m. Saturday. The team skated to a 2-2 Feb. 7 overtime tie at Salem.

The ECAC East semifinals and championship are scheduled March 6-7 at the highest remaining seed. Skidmore takes a five-game unbeaten streak into the tournament, finishing with a 12-9-3 record. Brett Bandazian ?11 leads the team in scoring with eight goals and 13 assists for 21 points. Goalies Andrew Ross ?12 and Colin Bessey ?12 have split time this season. Ross is 7-4-1 with 2.88 goals against average and an .898 save percentage, while Ross is 5-5-2 with a 2.62 GAA and .918 save percentage.

Pilawa is the first member of the Skidmore men's swimming and diving team to qualify for the NCAA Division III championships and now he's trying to be the first to win a UNYSCSA title this weekend in Syracuse. He goes into the meet seeded fourth in the 1-meter dive (283.9) and second in the 3-meter (293.45).