NCAA Women's Teams Have MAAC Connections

One men's team and one women's team from the MAAC is advancing to the NCAA tournament. But, those aren't the only conference connections headed for the so-called "Big Dance."

Here's a look at others with MAAC roots who are with women's teams participating in this year's NCAA tournament:

- Quintin Hillsman: "Q" is the head coach at Syracuse, after serving on the staff there for two seasons before his promotion to the head spot for the 2006-07 season. He was the Big East's women's Coach of the Year for the 2007-08 season and revitalized a program that had been struggling. This year's team is 23-6, the best record through 29 games in the program's history. Hillsman was an assistant at Siena for two seasons, including for that school's lone trip to the women's NCAA tournament in 2001.

- Melanie Moore: Her maiden name is Melanie Halker, and she is arguably the best player in Siena's history, and still ranks fourth all time in the MAAC for career scoring (2,012 pints) and rebounds (1,122). She is currently an assistant coach at Michigan, having sered in the same capacity for six seasons at Princeton. The 1999 Siena grad, a two-time MAAC Player of the Year, also was an assistant for two seasons (2002-03, 2003-04) with the Saints.

- Mary Grimes: Her maiden name is Mary McKissack, and she was a solid guard and standout defender at Siena. A 2003 graduate of that school, she was a sophomore on the Saints' 2001 trip to the NCAA tournament. She is now an assistant coach at the University of Albany, and had previously been on the staff at Syracuse.

- Jim Jabir: He served three seasons at Siena's head coach (1987-88 through 1989-90) before moving on. He has been the head coach at Dayton since 2003 and his team this year is currently 27-2, the best won-loss record in the history of that program. The Flyers had never advanced to the NCAA tournament prior to his arrival there, but is now making their fourth straight trip to that event.

- Shauna Green: Her maiden name is Shauna Geronzin, and she is still the all-time leading scorer at Canisius with 2,012 career points, which is also sixth-best all time in the MAAC. She graduated from Canisius in 2002. She is currently on Jabir's staff as an assistant at Dayton. Prior to that she was an assistant coach for six seasons at Providence.