The N.C.A.A. basketball tournaments always represent the chance to make history.
Some teams have already done that before taking the floor.
Massachusetts, a No. 12 seed in the women’s bracket, set a program record with 26 wins en route to making its first tournament in 24 years.
UMass, the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament champion, will face No. 5 Notre Dame in Oklahoma. Coach Tory Verdi took over in 2016, when the Minutewomen weren’t exactly a high-profile program.
But make no mistake; the Minutewomen aren’t just happy to be in the tournament. They want to shake up the field.