William & Mary coach reveals private message that inspired March Madness history

William & Mary's women's basketball have made history in becoming the first team in the programme's history to make the NCAA Tournament after defeating the High Point Panthers , with their head coach giving an emotional speech.

The small-school team went through a rough regular season, having a losing record of 16-18, but had been a team who fans had loved with their defensive efforts.

And those efforts were rewarded in the qualifying game, putting on an incredible showing to limit their opponents, while becoming the first ever sub-500 team to ever win an NCAA Tournament game.

Their win means that they will advance to the first-round of the Tournament in March Madness , where they will come up against one of the best teams in the nation in the Texas Longhorns.

On her team making the playoffs, head coach Erin Dickerson Davis said: "I mean, they are resilient.

We went through some really rough times this season and we were spiralling out of control.

We were going into a place where we were about to quit...

and it took our leaders to really step up and say we aren't quitters.

"It took them to say that we know that we're good and that we're better than what we're showing.

We knew if we could come together and believe in ourselves...

If you believe in each other, if you believe in us, then the sky is the limit." To get to a place where they could even contend for a place in March Madness after their losing record, William & Mary would need to defeat four teams, consecutively, that had beaten them six times over the regular season.

Going on to achieve just that, their players' emotions could be felt after the win on Thursday to see them advance.

Senior guard and team's top scorer Bella Nascimento said afterwards: "I cant believe it happened.

We came together and youre going to hear me talking about this word a lot belief.

If one person didnt have belief, we wouldnt have made it.

For their reward, Nascimento and her teammates will come up against Madison Booker, Taylor Jones and Rori Harmon's Longhorns - who are among the favorites to win the tournament.

First Round/Round of 64: Friday, March 21 (6) Michigan vs.

(11) Iowa State, 11:30 a.m.

(ESPN2) (4) Kentucky vs.

(13) Liberty, 12 p.m.

(ESPN) (8) Utah vs.

(9) Indiana, 1:30 p.m.

(ESPN2) (3) Notre Dame vs.

(14) Stephen F.

Austin, 2 p.m.

(ESPN) (5) Kansas State vs.

(12) Fairfield, 2:30 p.m.

(ESPNews) (4) Baylor vs.

(13) Grand Canyon, 3:30 p.m.

(ESPNU) (2) TCU vs.

(15) FDU, 3:30 p.m.

(ESPN2) (1) South Carolina vs.

(16) Tennessee Tech, 4 p.m.

(ESPN) (7) Vanderbilt vs.

(10) Oregon, 5:30 p.m.

(ESPNews) (4) Ohio State vs.

(13) Montana State, 5:30 p.m.

(ESPN2) (5) Ole Miss vs.

(12) Ball State, 6 p.m.

(ESPNU) (7) Louisville vs.

(10) Nebraska, 6 p.m.

(ESPN) (8) Richmond vs.

(9) Georgia Tech, 7:30 p.m.

(ESPNews) (2) Duke vs.

(15) Lehigh, 8 p.m.

(ESPNU) (5) Tennessee vs.

(12) South Florida, 8 p.m.

(ESPN) (1) UCLA vs.

(16) Southern U., 10 p.m.

(ESPN) First Round/Round of 64: Saturday, March 22 (6) Iowa vs.

(11) Murray State, 12 p.m.

(ESPN) (2) UConn vs.

(15) Arkansas State, 1 p.m.

(ABC) (5) Alabama vs.

(12) Green Bay, 1:30 p.m.

(ESPN2) (2) NC State vs.

(15) Vermont, 2 p.m.

(ESPN) (6) West Virginia vs.

(11) Columbia/Washington, 2 p.m.

(ESPNews) (3) Oklahoma vs.

(14) FGCU, 2:30 p.m.

(ESPNU) (1) Southern California vs.

(16) UNC Greensboro, 3 p.m.

(ABC) (7) Oklahoma State vs.

(10) South Dakota State, 3:30 p.m.

(ESPN2) (4) Maryland vs.

(13) Norfolk State, 4 p.m.

(ESPN) (3) North Carolina vs.

(14) Oregon State, 4:30 p.m.

(ESPNU) (7) Michigan State vs.

(10) Harvard, 4:30 p.m.

(ESPNews) (8) California vs.

(9) Mississippi State, 5:30 p.m.

(ESPN2) (8) Illinois vs.

(9) Creighton, 7:15 p.m.

(ESPNews) (6) Florida State vs.

(11) George Mason, 7:45 p.m.

(ESPN2) (1) Texas vs.

(16) High Point/William & Mary, 9:45 p.m.

(ESPN2) (3) LSU vs.

(14) San Diego State, 10:15 p.m.

(ESPN) Sweet 16: Friday, March 28 TBD vs.

TBD, 2:30 p.m.

(ESPN) TBD vs.

TBD, 5 p.m.

(ESPN) TBD vs.

TBD, 7:30 p.m.

(ESPN) TBD vs.

TBD, 10 p.m.

(ESPN) Sweet 16: Saturday, March 29 TBD vs.

TBD, 1 p.m.

(ABC) TBD vs.

TBD, 3:30 p.m.

(ABC) TBD vs.

TBD, 5:30 p.m.

(ABC) TBD vs.

TBD, 8 p.m.

(ESPN) Elite Eight: Sunday, March 30 TBD vs.

TBD, 1 p.m.

(ABC) TBD vs.

TBD, 3 p.m.

(ABC) Elite Eight: Monday, March 31 TBD vs.

TBD, 7 p.m.

(ESPN) TBD vs.

TBD, 9 p.m.

(ESPN) Final Four: Sunday, April 4 TBD vs.

TBD, 7 p.m.

(ESPN) TBD vs.

TBD, 9:30 p.m.

(ESPN) Championship game: April 6 TBD vs.

TBD, 9:30 p.m.

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