Kit Small led the Hawks in scoring for the third straight season. More importantly, the team's win total has increased each year. Photo by Ed Diller Photography

As the waning seconds ticked down Saturday, SUNY New Paltz's Kit Small couldn't help but think of the past.

The junior guard wasn't ignoring the present -- the Hawks had just defeated SUNY Geneseo in the tournament final to clinch the SUNYAC title -- or the future -- the win booked only the second trip to the NCAA tournament for the program. She was simply reflecting on how the foundation for the Hawks' banner 2015-16 season was laid over the previous two years.

New Paltz went 24-4, won its first SUNYAC title and made its first NCAA appearance in the 2013-14. The graduation of three key seniors, as well as the unexpected departures of two other players left head coach Jamie Seward with a roster of just 10 players, including then-freshmen Small and forward Courtney Irby. There was no shortage of growing pains as the Hawks plummeted to a 6-19 season, the only year with less than 16 wins in Seward's decade at the helm.

New Paltz bounced back with an 18-9 record last season, but was defeated in the conference tournament semifinals. Two years of disappointment and motivation culminated Saturday in a return trip to the NCAA tournament.

"We knew after going through those two seasons that we were doing it for more than just this year," Small said. "I think that was something that definitely pushed us through because we knew it was three years of work as opposed to one year of work."

Just how the Hawks have done it this season, however, is notable. Injuries, illness or some combination of the two have touched just about every single player on the roster. No player has appeared in all 27 games. In fact, only Small and Irby have started at least 20 games. Ten different players have started at least one game.

"It's kind of hard to pick a starting five on our team because everyone who does play, plays like a starter," Small said.

Seward said a pillar of the program is developing players' entire skill sets, rather than pigeonholing them into specific roles based upon their positions. The Hawks value that versatility during recruiting, and it has shown this season. Nine players average at least five points per game. Seven players average at least 20 minutes per game.

"One through nine, there really isn't a whole lot of difference on a given day," Seward said.

The Hawks play a consistent rotation of nine players, but can go 10 or 11 players deep when they mix and match. Small, Irby, and senior point guard Goldie Harrison, however, stand out as the constants.

Small, a versatile 5-10 guard/forward, leads the team in scoring (14.4 ppg) for a third straight season and is closing in on the program's all-time scoring record.

"Kit is kind of a microcosm of the team in that she's a very versatile player," Seward said.

The 6-foot Irby ranks second in scoring (10.5 ppg) but leads the team in rebounds (9.5 rpg) for a third consecutive season. And Harrison, the Hawks' lone remaining player from the first NCAA run three seasons ago, serves as the team's emotional spark.

"She's been just a tremendous, tremendous leader," Seward said. "The best I've ever coached and we've had some great leaders, but she's the best I've ever coached."

When the Hawks dropped three straight home games this January, after not losing a single home game in 2014-15, it was Harrison who gave an impassioned speech to the team. She then followed it up with a career-best 20 points in a lopsided home win against Buffalo State later that day.

Harrison was often forced to miss days of practice at a time in the first semester due to obligations for an internship. And yet the team's lone four-year senior only expressed a desire to see the team reach a point where it "would not need her," Seward said. Rather than pushing to boost her own personal numbers, Harrison took a selfless approach. Seward specifically noted her influence on sophomore point guard Sydney Pinn, one of the Hawks' regular contributors.

Sophomore guard Jasmine Bryant, sophomore guard/forward Laura Stuart, senior Colleen Ames (a transfer in 2014-15 from Division II St. Thomas Aquinas) and junior guard/forward Morgan Roessler have also stepped up when called upon this season.

That depth and team-first mentality is how the Hawks have been able to overcome situations like Saturday's SUNYAC title game, in which four starters had two fouls by the early second quarter. Seward said the team was without two of its listed starters in roughly 60 percent of the games this season. No matter. For New Paltz, starters can come off the bench and bench players can start. The assumed titles mean little in reality.

"As long as we're winning, we don't really care how it happens or who was the one stepping up," Small said.

New Paltz travels to face Rowan in the first round of the NCAA tournament Friday night. The Profs are making their first tournament appearance since 2000. If the Hawks win, they would then face the winner of the Amherst-Eastern Connecticut State game.

New Paltz, interestingly enough, enters this weekend as healthy as it's been all season. It's impossible to forecast, but the Hawks enter the tournament with quality depth, an experienced point guard, and a team philosophy that stresses half-court pressure to force turnovers, an attacking offensive style that draws free throws and an improving 3-point game. That can certainly create a formula for success in the tournament.

"I want to just try to make this season last one more day, one more day, one more day," Seward said. "Just see how many 'one more days' we can get because it's been a great team to be around."

NCAA tournament primer

The men's and women's NCAA tournament brackets were released Monday afternoon and the East region is well represented. Seven men's teams and eight women's teams qualified this season. Below is a breakdown of Friday's first round games, but D3hoops.com has the entire tournament covered. Here are the links to the men's coverage and women's coverage.

Men's bracket

Seven East teams were selected for the NCAA tournament, including automatic bids for Cortland State (SUNYAC), Hartwick (Empire 8), Skidmore (Liberty League) and Lancaster Bible (NEAC). A pair of SUNYAC teams, Plattsburgh State and Oswego State, as well as NYU, all earned at-large bids. The longest road trip? That would be Oswego State, which has to travel nearly 500 miles to Marietta, Ohio. NYU also has a lengthy trek; about 400 miles to Newport News, Va. Times (EST) and locations for Friday's first round games are listed below.

Cortland State (20-7) vs. WPI (20-6), 7:30 p.m., Friday, Amherst, Mass. (Amherst)

Hartwick (19-8) vs. Babson (21-5), 5:30 p.m., Friday, Selinsgrove, Pa. (Susquehanna)

Fitchburg State (18-9) at Plattsburgh State (21-5), 7:30 p.m., Friday, Plattsburgh, N.Y. (Plattsburgh State)

Skidmore (18-8) vs. Franklin & Marshall (22-5), 5:30 p.m., Friday, Medford, Mass. (Tufts)

Lancaster Bible (27-0) vs. Wooster (21-7), 5:30 p.m., Friday, Washington, DC (Catholic)

Oswego State (20-8) vs. Delaware Valley (20-7), 5 p.m., Friday, Marietta, Ohio (Marietta)

NYU (20-5) vs. Brooklyn (22-6), 5:30 p.m., Friday, Newport News, Va. (Christopher Newport)

Women's bracket

Eight teams from the East qualified for this year's tournament. That total includes automatic bids for New Paltz State (SUNYAC), Stevens (Empire 8), Clarkson (Liberty League) and SUNYIT (NEAC). NYU, Rochester, Geneseo State and St. John Fisher each received at-large bids. Geneseo State and NYU both have to travel more than 300 miles for their respective games, while St. John Fisher's trip to Pennsylvania is just under 300 miles. Times (EST) and locations for Friday's first round games are listed below.

SUNY New Paltz (21-6) at Rowan (22-5), 7 p.m., Friday, Glassboro, N.J. (Rowan)

SUNY-Old Westbury (23-5) at Stevens (21-6), 8 p.m., Friday, Hoboken, N.J. (Stevens)

Geneseo State (20-7) vs. FDU-Florham (21-6), 6 p.m., Friday, Hoboken, N.J. (Stevens)

NYU (18-7) vs. Lehman (20-7), 5 p.m., Friday, Brunswick, Maine (Bowdoin)

Johnson & Wales (24-3) at Rochester (20-5), 7 p.m., Friday, Rochester, N.Y. (Rochester)

Clarkson (22-5) vs. Stockton (21-6), 5 p.m., Friday, Rochester, N.Y. (Rochester)

SUNYIT (23-5) at Montclair State (21-6), 7 p.m., Friday, Montclair, N.J. (Montclair State)

St. John Fisher (22-4) at Muhlenberg (24-2), 7 p.m., Friday, Allentown, Pa. (Muhlenberg)

Contact me

Is it really March already? Amazingly enough, it is. Twelve weeks of D3hoops.com's regional columns have flown by. If you've taken the time to read the work of yours truly (or any of the other columnists), I'd like to extend my thanks. On the same note, if you've reached out directly to me with a stat, story idea, or simply to talk hoops, thank you. Though the basketball season nears its end, my commitment doesn't! I can still be reached via email at andrew.lovell@d3sports.com or on Twitter at @Andrew_Lovell. Keep in touch, and enjoy the tournaments!