CLINTON — A little team has enormous March Madness dreams.

Presbyterian College, with an undergraduate enrollment of 995 at last official count, will be the smallest school to ever play in the women's NCAA basketball tournament. The Blue Hose also plan to be the smallest to win a game there.

Presbyterian (20-14), the Big South Conference champion, will face Northeast Conference champion Sacred Heart (24-9) in a First Four play-in game at 7 p.m. ET Wednesday (ESPNU) at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia. The Blue Hose learned of their matchup during a selection show Big Dance party Sunday night at the Ross E. Templeton Physical Education Center.

“I think people should pick us,” Presbyterian coach Alaura Sharp said. “There is a certain grit and resilient spirit with our team. I think when you have a team like this, one that’s never done something, it can become somewhat of a Cinderella story.”

The Blue Hose were 3-7 at one point in the Big South. Even through a rash of injuries, they worked up to a No. 5 seed in the conference tournament, then rolled through it and beat Radford 60-37 in the championship game for the NCAA automatic berth.

“We’re still hungry for history,” said Sharp, who is in her sixth season. “We’re the smallest school that’s ever played in the tournament. We’ll be the smallest school to ever win a game in the tournament. We’ll be the first team at PC to ever win a game in the NCAA tournament . . . This is the greatest time of the year.”

The First Four is not necessarily a compliment. It’s a play-in round of what the selection committee considers the worst overall seeds. The winner is rewarded with a No. 16 seed in the main event. If the Blue Hose beat Sacred Heart, they get to play Friday at overall No. 1 South Carolina.

“I like it,” Presbyterian sixth-year player Bryanna Brady said. “I think it definitely gives us a chance to get our nerves out. You know, the bright light and all the people. Hopefully, we can get the outcome we want and it will give us a chance to play another game.”

Columbia is only an hour from Clinton, but Sharp joked that she won’t need to go back home for a change of clothes if the Blue Hose advance past the first round.

“I’m packing four outfits,” she said. “I want to go to the Sweet 16. I want to keep coaching this team as long as I can.”

And if it does come to a game against South Carolina, the Blue Hose will not use an enrollment number as an excuse, but rather a badge of pride.

“It shows that it doesn’t matter what size school you have or the things you have,” Presbyterian junior Paige Kindseth said. “As long as you have heart, as long as you have the right team together, anything is possible.”

This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Presbyterian wants to crash March Madness, Women's NCAA Tournament