Who? The Great Danes of Albany- even more precisely and more persnickety, the State University of New York at Albany.
What? Scooby-Doo was not an inspiration for choosing the name Great Danes. Their mascot is Damien, which... is actually a little scary.
Where? Albany, New York, which I'm not sure you can actually get into by car without selling a child's soul. (We went my sophomore year of high school, and only got in after hours of driving around in circles, and no one's seen Fidel since...)
When? March 10th, on the campus of the State University of New York at Albany. (Yes, I'm persnickety.)
Why? They won the America East Conference tournament.
How? 23-point performances from Cassandra Callaway and Ebone Henry powered the Great Danes to a 69-61 win over UMBC.
Surprise? Expected to finish fifth in the preseason, Albany finished second, only a game behind Boston University.
RPI (as of 3/10): 83
SOS (as of 3/10): 164
Record: 23-9 (14-2 America East)
Good wins: At Boston University might be the best.
Bad losses: At Brown.
Who's running this show? Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, since 2010, the America East Coach of the Year.
Extra, Extra! The Albany Times-Union.
Junior guard Ebone Henry leads her team with 14.1 points and is second in rebounding with 7.2 per game. Junior forward Julie Forster has been a force on the boards, with 10.1 per game. They force turnovers (just shy of 20 per game) but don't shoot well (36% from the field). Reserve post Megan Craig, a freshman from New Zealand, will turn heads with her six-eight frame. I suspect, based on the title game, that this team's good fortune will depend on whether Cassandra Callaway can bring her hot shooting with her into the Big Dance.