Central Islip, N.Y. – With the conclusion of regular season play, the field for the 2012 East Coast Conference Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships are now set. Quarterfinal action begins on Wednesday, February 29 on campus sites. The semifinals and finals will be hosted by Queens College on Saturday and Sunday, March 3 and 4. The Dowling women’s basketball and C.W. Post men’s basketball teams earned the top seeds in the respective tournaments by capturing regular season championships.

Women’s Basketball

On the women’s side, top seeded Dowling earned their first ECC Regular Season Championship since 2003 with a 13-3 record. As the top seed, the Golden Lions earn a bye into the semifinals on Saturday, March 3.

Joining Dowling with a first round bye is first year conference member, University of the District of Columbia. The Firebirds earned the second seed with a 12-4 record in conference action.

In the semifinals, Dowling will face off against the winner of the No.3 vs. No. 6 quarterfinal matchup which features the St. Thomas Aquinas Lady Spartans hosting the Molloy College Lions. The Lady Spartans finished in a tie with C.W. Post with an 11-5 record in ECC play, but take the three seed due to ECC tiebreaker rules.

C.W. Post, last year’s champion, earns the No. 4 seed and will host the No. 5 seed, New York Institute of Technology. The Pioneers title defense begins against a NYIT team that posted their first winning season since the 1987-88 season.

Men’s Basketball

The 2010-11 ECC Men’s Basketball Champions, C.W. Post, look to make it two in a row from the top spot in the tournament. The Pioneers posted a 15-1 record in ECC play this season and come into the tournament on a roll, winning six in a row.

University of the District of Columbia is the other institution which earned a bye after earning the No. 2 seed by virtue of their 13-3 conference record.

In quarterfinal action, No. 4 NYIT will host No. 5 Dowling for the right to take on C.W. Post in the semifinals. NYIT won both meetings between the schools in the regular season, narrowly winning the second contest 71-67 in overtime.

The other quarterfinal has No. 6 seed, Molloy, traveling to Connecticut to face No. 3 seed Bridgeport. The two schools last met on February 8 when Bridgeport swept the season series after squeaking out a 66-65 win.

The Championships’ semifinals and finals will be broadcast live by the Pack Network on eccsports.nmtvsports.com. To read twitter updates throughout the tournament, follow us @ECCsports.  Live stats, tournament recaps, highlights, interviews, and box scores will also be available on www.eccsports.org.

2012 East Coast Conference Women’s Basketball Championship
Quarterfinals – Wednesday, February 29
No. 6 Molloy at No. 3 St. Thomas Aquinas – 7:00 PM
No. 5 NYIT at No. 4 C.W. Post – 7:00 PM

Semifinals – Saturday, March 3 at Queens College
NYIT/CWP vs. No. 1 Dowling – 12:00 PM
MOL/STAC vs. No. 2 District of Columbia – 2:30 PM

Final – Sunday, March 4 at Queens College
Semifinal One winner vs. Semifinal Two winner – 12:00 PM

2012 East Coast Conference Men’s Basketball Championship
Quarterfinals – Wednesday, February 29
No. 6 Molloy at No. 3 Bridgeport – 7:00 PM
No. 5 Dowling at No. 4 NYIT – 7:00 PM

Semifinals – Saturday, March 3 at Queens College
DOW/NYIT vs. No. 1 C.W. Post – 5:00 PM
MOL/UB vs. No. 2 District of Columbia – 7:30 PM

Final – Saturday, March 4 at Queens College
Semifinal One winner vs. Semifinal Two winner – 2:30 PM