The 2016 America East Women's Basketball semifinals are set for Sunday as No. 1 Albany, No. 2 Maine, No. 3 Stony Brook and No. 5 Binghamton advanced with quarterfinal wins on Saturday.
Second-seeded Maine will battle No. 3 Stony Brook at 2:00 PM while No. 1 Albany will face host and fifth-seeded Binghamton at 4:15 PM. Both games will air on ESPN3.
The Matchups
Game 5: No. 2 Maine vs. No. 3 Stony Brook - 2:00 PM
Live Stats | Watch Live
- Tournament history: Stony Brook holds a 2-1 advantage in the all-time series.
- All three previous meetings came in opening round games (8-seed vs. 9-seed). The tournament has not had an opening round game since 2012 when the field consisted of nine teams.
- The last time the teams met in the tournament was in 2012 when No. 8 Maine beat No. 9 Stony Brook, 49-43.
- Stony Brook won the two meetings before that in 2011 as a No. 8 seed, 76-55, over No. 9 Maine, and in 2008, 64-58, as a No. 9 seed over No. 8 Maine.
- Stony Brook is appearing in the semifinals for the second time in three season. The Seawolves have reached the title game twice in program history and are 2-2 all-time in the semifinals.
- Maine is looking for its first appearance in the title game since 2004, which was also the last America East Championship for the Black Bears.
- Maine has appeared in the finals 15 times in program history and is 15-2 all-time in the semifinals. The only semifinal losses came last season and in 1986.
Game 6: No. 1 Albany vs. No. 5 Binghamton - 4:15 PM
Live Stats | Watch Live
- Tournament history: Albany is 3-0 all-time vs. Binghamton in the tournament.
- The last time the teams met was in the 2014 quarterfinals when the Great Danes beat the Bearcats, 77-59. The teams also met in the 2012 semifinals and the 2008 quarterfinals.
- Albany is appearing in the semifinals for the fifth-straight season and seventh time as a program. The Great Danes are 4-2 all-time in the semifinals with four-straight wins.
- Binghamton is appearing in the semifinals for the sixth time and is looking for its first trip to the title game. This is the first semifinal appearance for the Bearcats since 2012 when they lost to Albany. All five semifinal apperances have come since 2007.
- Albany is looking to become the first America East team to win five-straight titles. The Great Danes have won 12-straight tournament games, the second-longest streak of all-time behind Maine's 14 from 1995-98.
- Binghamton is one of three current America East schools without a tournament title and one of two (UNH) without an apperance in the title game.
- With Binghamton's win, the host team has now advanced to the semifinal in 10 of the last 12 seasons.
Notes on the Seeds
- The No. 1 seed has now advanced to the semifinals in 11-straight years and 23 of the 25 seasons since the tournament expanded beyond six teams.
- The No. 1 seed has advanced to the title game 24 of 30 times (there was no No. 1 seed in 1994).
- The top seed is 6-3 vs. the No. 5 seed. The last time a five-seed beat a one seed was in 2012 when UMBC beat Boston U. Albany went on to beat the Retrievers to win its first of of four-straight titles that season.
- The No. 2 seed is heading to its ninth-straight semifinal and will look to reach the finals for the seventh-straight season
- The No. 2 seed has reached the title game 18 times and is 10-9 all-time vs. the No. 3 seed.
- The No. 3 seed is heading to the semifinals for just the second time in the last five years.
- The No. 3 seed has not reached the finals since 2009, which was also the last time the No. 3 seed won a title as Vermont beat top seed Boston U.
- The No. 5 seed has now won five-straight games over the No. 4 seed.
- The fifth-seed has reached the finals three times, including last season, with one title.
- The lone title came in 2002 when No. 5 Hartford beat No. 7 Stony Brook.
- The No. 5 seed also appeared in the title game in 2012.
If two upsets happen...
- On only two occasions has the America East Championship NOT featured either of the top-two seeds.
- It first occurred in 1989 when No. 3 Boston U. defeated No. 4 Northeastern. At that time, only the top-four teams competed in the tournament. The second time was in 2002 when No. 5 Hartford faced No. 7 Stony Brook. The No. 3 and No. 5 seeds have never met in a final.
Quarterfinal Notes
- The 54 points scored by Albany in the first half were the third-most in a tournament game in conference history, while the 95 points total were the fourth-most in a single game in tournament history.The top-three seeds advanced to the semifinals for just the second time in the last five seasons. It also happened in 2014. The top-three seeds advanced to the semifinals every year from 2008-2011.
- The Great Danes also forced 29 turnovers, the tied for the third-most in a single game.
2016 America East Women's Basketball Championship
Quarterfinals - Saturday, March 5 - Binghamton University
Game 1: No. 2 Maine 58, No. 7 New Hampshire 47
Box Score | Recap | Quotes | Highlights | Photo Gallery
Game 2: No. 3 Stony Brook 60, No. 6 Hartford 42
Box Score | Recap | Quotes | Highlights | Photo Gallery
Game 3: No. 1 Albany 95,. No. 8 Vermont 43
Box Score | Recap | Quotes | Highlights | Photo Gallery
Game 4: No. 5 Binghamton 49, No. 4 UMBC 41
Box Score | Recap | Quotes | Highlights | Photo Gallery
Semifinals - Sunday, March 6 - Binghamton University
Game 5: No. 2 Maine vs. No. 3 Stony Brook - 2:00 PM
Live Stats | Watch Live
Game 6: No. 1 Albany vs. No. 5 Binghamton - 4:15 PM
Live Stats | Watch Live
Championship Game - Friday, March 11
at highest remaining seed
Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 4:30 PM