Chicago ? This is one game Melanie Davis is certain to remember.

Davis became the first woman to referee a Division I men’s NCAA Tournament game Friday, working the first-round game between San Diego State and Illinois in the Midwest Regional.

“I hope this opens the door for other ladies to come in,” Davis said afterward. “If not, I’m going to take this moment and cherish it.”

Davis has officiated men’s games in the Southwestern Athletic Conference for more than 10 years, and has done the conference tournament championship game the past two seasons. She was chosen to work the NCAA Tournament just as the other referees were, said Hank Nichols, the NCAA’s national coordinator of men’s basketball officiating.

Each conference ranks its referees based on their work during the season, and then submits the top ones to the NCAA to be considered for the tournament. Davis was the SWAC’s top-ranked referee, Nichols said.

“She’s No. 1, I’d seen her work, so there was no reason not to choose her,” he said. “It was a no-brainer.

“It is history-making,” Nichols added. “But I wasn’t thinking about that in terms when we did it.”

But it was a big deal to Davis. When she got her packet of information for the tournament, she was so nervous she couldn’t open it.

“I waited three or four hours to open it,” she said. “I set it on the dresser and kept staring at it and staring at it. I was worried at first, but I’m glad it happened.”

In keeping with policy, the NCAA did not announce the referees before the tournament. So there was no fanfare as she walked onto the floor, with few people  if anyone  aware of the milestone.

Though having a female ref was a first for the players and coaches, they didn’t see it as a big deal.

“She was no different than any other ref,” Illinois forward Lucas Johnson said. “She’s out there for a reason. They’re not going to put her out there if she doesn’t know the game. She makes mistakes like all the other refs and she makes good calls like all the other refs.”

Davis didn’t make any controversial calls, and Nichols said he thought she did a good job. When Johnson and San Diego State’s Mike Mackell got tangled up under the basket and started shoving each other, she stepped in and separated them.

“She demanded as much respect in the game as anybody we’ve had all year,” Illinois coach Bill Self said. “I didn’t think twice about it. They’re doing it in the NBA, so I don’t know why it wouldn’t be kosher in the NCAA.”

In fact, the NBA broke the gender barrier almost five years ago. Violet Palmer and Dee Kantner were the first women to officiate regular-season games in a major U.S. professional sports league when they worked NBA games in the 1997-98 season.

Palmer worked her first game Oct. 30, 1997, and Kantner joined her five days later. Both are still NBA referees.