Indianapolis - The NCAA announced the bracket for its Women's Basketball Championship on Sunday evening and for the fifth straight season, the East Coast Conference will have multiple competing in the tournament. ECC Champion, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Regular Season Champion, LIU Post, will continue their seasons to vie for a National Championship.
St. Thomas Aquinas won its first-ever ECC Championship earlier Sunday to earn the ECC's automatic bid into the tournament. This will be the second NCAA Championship appearance in program history for STAC and first since 2003.
The Lady Spartans, who upped their record to 26-4 on the way to an ECC title, earned the No. 4 seed in the East Region bracket. Their first round opponent is No. 5 Caldwell of the Central Atlantic College Conference (CACC). The two teams met earlier this season on November 29 with STAC winning big on their home court by a final score of 86-54.
LIU Post ends a three season NCAA Tournament drought by earning an at-large bid. In their seventh NCAA appearance, the Pioneers will be the No. 6 seed and take on No. 3 seed and CACC Champion, USciences.
The remaining matchups in the East Region bracket feature an all-NE10 matchup between top-seed Stonehill and No. 8 Southern Connecticut State, and another NE10 member, No. 2 Bentley, against No. 7 Jefferson of the CACC.
Stonehill will host the regional at Merkert Gymnasium on their campus in Easton, Mass.
St. Thomas Aquinas holds a 1-3 record against fellow tournament participants during the 2017-18 season, with the win coming against Caldwell and losses vs. Southern Connecticut State and two to LIU Post.
The Pioneers hold a 2-3 mark against the rest of the bracket. Both wins came against St. Thomas Aquinas, while the losses were to Caldwell, Stonehill, and Bentley.
Tournament play will begin at Stonehill 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.
To view the full 64 team bracket, click here.
2018 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball East Regional
Quarterfinals - Friday, March 9
No. 1 Stonehill (26-3) vs. No. 8 Southern Connecticut State (21-9)
No. 2 Bentley (27-3) vs. No. 7 Jefferson (26-5)
No. 3 USciences (28-3) vs. No. 6 LIU Post (22-7)
No. 4 St. Thomas Aquinas (26-4) vs. No. 5 Caldwell (24-6)
Semifinals – Saturday, March 10
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 12
