BOSTON – The stage is set for the 2016 America East Women's Basketball Championship, which will begin with the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds March 5th and 6th at Binghamton University's Events Center. The championship game will be held at the highest remaining seed on Friday, March 11. Tournament seeding and matchups were finalized on Sunday, the final day of the regular season.
Only the bottom two seeds for the tournament were known entering the day as the final six seeds were decided:
- Albany (24-4, 15-1 AE) - Earned a share of the America East regular-season title for the fourth-straight year with a win over Hartford on Sunday; four-time defending champion has an 11-game tournament winning streak; Won tiebreak over Maine by having a higher RPI
- Maine (24-7, 15-1 AE) – Earned a share of the America East regular-season title for the second-straight season and 13th time in school history
- Stony Brook (16-13, 8-8) - Top-3 seed for the third-straight season; Wins 3-way tiebreak with UMBC and Binghamton by virtue of 2-0 record against Hartford (all other tiebreaks were even)
- UMBC (17-12, 8-8 AE) – Highest seed since 2012-13; most conference wins since 2011-12; wins tiebreak over Binghamton with better conference road record (4-4) than Binghamton (3-5)
- Binghamton (13-16, 8-8 AE) - Most conference wins and highest seed since 2010-11; earned No. 5 seed by virtue of Hartford's loss on Sunday
- Hartford (11-18, 7-9 AE) – Looking for team's 11th semifinal appearance in the last 12 years; Hawks' first appearance as the #6 seed
- New Hampshire (12-17, 6-10 AE) – Team searching for first-ever trip to the America East title game; will look to become first #7 seed to beat the #2 seed since 2007
- Vermont (9-20, 4-12 AE) - Second-most titles in America East history with six; looking for first tournament win since 2013
The 2016 #AETourney starts Saturday, March 5 with quarterfinal action. No. 2 seed Maine faces No. 7 New Hampshire to begin the tournament at noon, followed by No. 3 Stony Brook vs. No. 6 Hartford. Top-seed Albany battles No. 8 Vermont to begin the second session at 6 p.m., followed by No. 4 UMBC against No. 5 seed and host Binghamton.
The quarterfinal winners will face-off on Sunday with the first semifinal game beginning at 2 p.m. Every quarterfinal and semifinal game of the #AETourney will be broadcast live on ESPN3. The title game will be played at the highest remaining seed on Friday, March 11 at 4:30 p.m. on ESPNU. More information, including how to buy tickets, can be found at Championship Central.
2016 America East Women's Basketball Tournament
March 5-6, Binghamton University
Saturday, March 5 - Quarterfinals
Game 1: #2 Maine vs. #7 New Hampshire, Noon – ESPN3
Game 2: #3 Stony Brook vs. #6 Hartford, 2:15 PM - ESPN3
Game 3: #1 Albany vs. #8 Vermont, 6 PM - ESPN3
Game 4: #4 UMBC vs. #5 Binghamton, 8:15 p.m. - ESPN3
Sunday, March 6 - Semifinals
Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 2 PM - ESPN3
Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 4:15 PM - ESPN3
Friday, March, 11 – Highest Remaining Seed
Semifinal Winners - 4:30 p.m. – ESPNU