Indianapolis – The East Coast Conference will send multiple teams to the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championship Tournament for the fourth straight season the NCAA announced on Sunday evening. Among the 64 teams that will vie for a National Championship will be ECC Champion, Molloy College, NYIT, and Queens College.
After falling short of a third straight ECC Championship, Queens College is back in the NCAA bracket for the third straight year and fourth time in program history by earning an at-large berth and the No. 2 seed in the East Region. The Knights loss to NYIT in the ECC Championship snapped a 16-game winning streak and brought their record to 24-4 on the year.
Queens will take on No. 7 seeded Assumption of the NE10 in their First Round contest. Assumption handed Queens one of their four losses on the season, coming away with a 67-59 victory over the Knights on November 27.
After winning their first ECC Championship since 2010 earlier today, Molloy ends a seven year NCAA Tournament drought with the conference's automatic bid. The Lions earned the region's No. 5 seed and will battle No. 4 seeded Caldwell University of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) in the First Round.
Molloy defeated Caldwell, who earned one of the region's five at-large berths, by a score of 81-76 on December 29.
After a run to the final of the ECC Championship, NYIT makes the jump from unranked in last week's regional rankings to the final at-large berth in the bracket as the No. 8 seed. The Bears, who are making their second straight NCAA Championship and third appearance in program history, have a date with top seed and host, Adelphi University. The matchup between the Bears and the Panthers is yet another rematch, as NYIT beat Adelphi, 73-59, way back on November 11 in the season-opener for both squads.
The remaining matchup in the East Region bracket pits No. 3 Bentley of the NE10 against CACC Champion, USciences.
Adelphi, who earns hosting duties for the East Regional for the second time in three seasons. will host the regional at the Center for Recreation and Sport on their campus in Garden City, N.Y. after capturing the NE10 Championship.
All three ECC squads in the bracket have experienced success against their fellow regional counterparts throughout the course of the 2016-17 season. Queens and Molloy are both 5-3 against other teams in the regional, while NYIT is 4-4. Among the wins, Queens defeated Caldwell and USciences, Molloy topped Bentley and Caldwell, and NYIT was victorious over Adelphi and Bentley.
Tournament play will begin at Adelphi with quarterfinal action on Friday, March 10. The semifinals will take place Saturday, March 11 and after a day off, the championship game will be on Monday, March 13.
To view the full 64 team bracket, click here.
2017 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball East Regional
Quarterfinals - Friday, March 10
No. 1 Adelphi (26-4) vs. No. 8 NYIT (18-11)
No. 2 Queens (24-4) vs. No. 7 Assumption (19-8)
No. 3 Bentley (26-5) vs. No. 6 USciences (26-5)
No. 4 Caldwell (25-5) vs. No. 5 Molloy (22-8)
Semifinals – Saturday, March 11
No. 3-No. 6 winner vs. No. 2-No. 7 winner
No. 1-No. 8 winner vs. No. 4-No. 5 winner
Championship – Monday, March 13
