BRUNSWICK, Maine-Coach Carol Simon is almost always in the same place during women's basketball games, but that doesn't mean she's staying still. Kneeling in front of her bench, Simon supports herself with one arm anchored to the ground. Gingerly rotating her body as the ball moves from one side of the court to the other, she sometimes nearly completes a full circle before a referee's whistle brings her exploding to her feet to argue a call.

Simon has kneeled in front of the Brandeis bench for 19 years. She took over the women's basketball program when it was still in its infancy, and guided it all the way to this weekend's appearance in the NCAA tournament, in which the team won its first-round game against Salem State University Friday before being eliminated by host Bowdoin College Saturday.

Coaching in college basketball's Big Dance this weekend was a first for Simon-after the team narrowly missed the tournament the last two seasons, both times going on to the win the ECAC New England title.

More importantly for her, it was a historic first for the program that she has guided for nearly two decades; the first and only head-coaching job she has ever held. This comes after she already surpassed 250 career wins this season in a 81-66 win over Carnegie Mellon University Jan. 6.

Her seat on the Judges' bench may as well not be there. Simon only occupies it for a few minutes each game. It seems the only moment when emotion leaves Simon's face is when the bench behind her erupts with excitement after a big play. Only then is her face stoic, a controlled counter balance to the team's passion.

"She keeps it interesting, to say the least," assistant coach Anthony Ewing says of Simon.

And when Simon finally made the NCAA tournament, there was no one more elated for her than the people who sit behind her on the bench.

"It's long overdue," Ewing says. "It's well deserved. She's worked long and hard to get the program at Brandeis where it is right now."

Simon, for her part, seems to view her own passion in the context of helping her players.

"It really comes down to [is that] I do it because of them," she says. "If I show them that I'm giving 110 percent, there's no excuses. Once [they] see what hard work is . they understand."

With the Judges trailing by one late in their first-round win here Friday, Simon calmly yet strongly said to her players during a timeout, "six minutes and 40 seconds left in your life."

That direction from Simon propelled the Judges to a win their first NCAA tournament game, but not the next night. Speaking after the game, Simon talked about what has propelled her and the program for 19 years.

"This is a passion," she said. "It's not a job, it's a love.