Yolett McCuin and the Jacksonville Dolphins drew the No. 1 seeded South Carolina Gamecocks in the opening round of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament. They will square off against the Gamecocks in Columbia, South Carolina, tonight at 7:30p.m on ESPN 2.
Following their historic 56-54 win over the Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) Eagles in the Atlantic Sun (A-Sun) Conference women's championship game on Sunday night, Jacksonville University (JU) Dolphins Head Coach Bahamian Yolett McCuin, who is also in charge of The Bahamas senior women's national program, said that their celebration of the first conference title in program history, and also the Dolphins first trip to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Women's Basketball Tournament will be "short lived". Not getting too caught up in the moment was probably the best advice McCuin could offer her squad, especially since they drew No. 1 seed South Carolina in the opening round of the tournament.
They will square off against the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Champions in Columbia, South Carolina, tonight at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN 2.
Like the Dolphins, the University of South Carolina Gamecocks clinched an automatic bid into the tournament after knocking off Mississippi State, 66-52, in the SEC title game.
The lights on Friday night will be the brightest that the Dolphins have ever played under, but "Coach Yo", as McCuin is affectionately called, is confident that her team will show up when it matters the most.
"We drew the No. 1 seed, and will play in front of 16,000 fans with great media coverage," said McCuin. "We're excited. Our girls are going to come out and play hard, and represent the program as best as possible."
In the A-Sun final, Jacksonville closed the game on a 15-5 scoring run. Brandi Buie scored seven points during that run as the Dolphins kept chipping away at the Eagles lead.
With just over 10 seconds to go, the Dolphins forced Kaneisha Atwar into an offensive foul, which set up a baseline jumper by Buie that ultimately sealed the deal, despite leaving three seconds on the clock. Three years at the helm of her own program and McCuin has coached Jacksonville to its third consecutive Atlantic Sun Conference tournament appearance, making it further each year. She led the Dolphins to an impressive 22-10 regular season record this year, going 11-3 in conference play.
In her first year at JU, Coach McCuin directed the Dolphins to an overall record of 13-17. A 67-65 victory over Mercer at the end of the season earned the Dolphins the No. 4 seed in the A-Sun Tournament, an achievement not seen since the 2008-09 campaign, and provided the team the right to host a quarter-final game. The accolades earned McCuin a nomination for the WBCA (Women's Basketball Coaches Association) Maggie Dixon Rookie Coach of the Year Award.
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