Indianapolis – The East Coast Conference
Women’s Basketball Champion, Dowling College Golden Lions,
will be joined by two other conference members in the NCAA Division
II Tournament. C.W. Post and University of the District of Columbia
were also included in the 64 team bracket released by the NCAA on
Sunday night.
After taking home the ECC Women’s Basketball Championship
title for the league’s automatic berth, Dowling is the
highest seeded team in the East Region field from the conference.
The Golden Lions earn the No. 3 seed and will face off against No.
6 seed and champion of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference,
Holy Family. This is Dowling’s first berth in the NCAA
Tournament since they last won the conference in 2003. Holy Family,
making their ninth straight appearance in the championship field,
has won 11 straight games and 17 of their last 18 contests.
C.W. Post is the next seeded ECC team at No. 7. They will face off
against the No. 2 seeded Southern Connecticut State Owls. The Owls
currently are 24-5 on the season and ranked No. 18 in the nation in
the latest USA Today/ESPN Division II Coaches Poll. After breaking
a nine year NCAA Tournament drought last season, the Pioneers are
back in the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year with an
at-large berth. C.W. Post currently holds a 21-9 record on the
year.
University of the District of Columbia is the final ECC team in the
field in the No. 8 spot. The Firebirds face the task of taking on
host and top seeded Bentley. The Falcons, champions of the
Northeast 10 Conferenceand defending East Region Champions, boast a
27-3 record and a No. 6 national ranking. This marks the second
consecutive year Bentley will host the tournament. UDC grabs the
final at-large berth and their first bid to the tournament since
2009 after a successful first season in the ECC.
Pace and Franklin Pierce are the other two participants and will
meet in the No. 4 vs. No. 5 matchup.
Tournament play will begin at Bentley with quarterfinal action on
Friday, March 9. The semifinals will take place Saturday, March 10
and after a day off, the championship game will be on Monday, March
12 at 7:00 p.m.
Click here for full bracket.
NCAA Division II
East Region Women’s Basketball Tournament at Bentley
University
Quarterfinals - Friday, March 9, 2012
No. 3 Dowling (22-6) vs. No. 6 Holy Family (24-7), 12:00 p.m.
No. 2 Southern Connecticut St. (24-5) vs. No. 7 C.W. Post
(21-9), 2:30 p.m.
No. 1 Bentley (27-3) vs. No. 8 District of Columbia (21-6), 6
p.m.
No. 4 Pace (20-8) vs. No. 5 Franklin Pierce (19-9), 8:30 p.m.
Semifinals – Saturday, March 10, 2011
No. 3-No. 6 winner vs. No. 2-No. 7 winner, 5:00 p.m.
No. 1-No. 8 winner vs. No. 4-No. 5 winner, 7:30 p.m.
Championship – Monday, March 12, 2011
7:00 p.m.
Winner advances to Elite Eight in San Antonio, Texas, March
20-23.
