Bowdoin College and St. Joseph’s College both received good news when the NCAA Division III women’s basketball tournament field was announced Monday.

Bowdoin College guard Taylor Choate (4) shoots while being defended by Tufts’ Emily Briggs Sunday in the NESCAC title game inside Morrell Gymnasium in Brunswick. The Polar Bears will host the opening two rounds of the NCAA Division III Tournament, beginning Friday against Hunter. (Brian Beard / CiPhotography.com)

Both received favorable spots in the tournament — with Bowdoin hosting games in the first two rounds, and St. Joseph’s playing on a neutral court in the first round.

Bowdoin will be home against Hunter College of New York City in the first round, and St. Joseph’s plays MIT at Ithaca College in upstate New York.

The Polar Bears and Monks will be joined by Husson College in the tournament.

The Eagles placed their men’s and women’s teams in the NCAA tournaments that begin Friday. Both teams travel to NESCAC schools, the women at Amherst and the men at Williams.

While the NCAA doesn’t announce overall seeds, it appears that Bowdoin (26-1) is a top-four seed with Tufts (25-2), Thomas More (27-0) of Kentucky and St. Thomas (26-1) of Minnesota.

“It appears that way, given the criteria,” Bowdoin head coach Adrienne Shibles said of the top-four seed.

That could mean Bowdoin would be home for the Sweet 16 and quarterfinals — if it wins its first two games.

Tufts gave Bowdoin its only loss Sunday in the NESCAC championship game.

Bowdoin, with its impressive record against the third-toughest schedule in the country, was assured of getting an at-large bid.

St. Joseph’s, however, was not a guarantee. The Monks (27-1) also lost their unbeaten record by falling in their conference championship game Saturday to Emmanuel.

But St. Joseph’s strength of schedule ranked just 219th of the 444 Division III schools, so the Monks had to wait until hearing their name called during the NCAA tournament selection show.

During the show, 24 of the 32 matchups were announced before St. Joseph’s name was called.

“Waiting for someone else to decide our fate is not the most enjoyable,” Monks coach Mike McDevitt said. Not being picked “is always in the back of your mind. You never know.”

The winner of the game between St. Joseph’s and MIT (21-7) will play Saturday against Ithaca or SUNY-Poly.

Bowdoin’s Abby Kelly (22) follows through on her shot Sunday against Tufts inside Morrell Gymnasium. (Brian Beard / CiPhotography.com)

“We’re lucky enough to qualify and not play the host team,” McDevitt said. “Hopefully it’s a relatively even matchup. I don’t know a lot about MIT.”

MIT beat Emmanuel in December, 72-69.

Bowdoin will be heavily favored against Hunter, which was 18-9 playing against the 261st-toughest schedule in the country. The Hawks are winless in their four previous NCAA appearances, the last coming in 2004.

The Bowdoin-Hunter winner will play Saturday against Smith (21-6) or the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (22-3).

The Husson women (19-8) will be heavy underdogs in their first-round game at Amherst (23-3), the two-time defending national champion Amherst.

The Husson men (20-6) also will have a big task at Williams (20-6).