Southern Connecticut is Top Seed for Northeast-10
Women's Basketball Tournament
South Easton, Mass. Repeating as Northeast-10 Conference regular
season champion after sharing top honors with Merrimack College one
year ago, the Owls of Southern Connecticut State University will be
the top seed for the 2005-2006 Northeast-10 Conference Women's
Basketball Championship, presented by Anaconda Sports.
The Owls, who finished with a 19-3 conference record (24-2 overall) have won the league outright for the first time since joining the conference during the 2000-2001 season. Stonehill College (17-5 NE-10, 22-6 overall), American International College (16-6 NE-10, 21-6 overall) and Pace University (15-6 NE-10, 20-6 overall) will be the second, third and fourth seeds, respectively. The first four seeds will receive first round byes.
First round action opens Sunday, February 26 with four games. The winners advance to the quarterfinals, Tuesday, February 28.
First round games include #12 Southern New Hampshire University at #5 Bentley College, #11 Le Moyne College at #6 The College of Saint Rose, #10 The University of Massachusetts Lowell at #7 Saint Michael's College, and #9 Assumption College at #8 Franklin Pierce College. All games tip off at 2:00 p.m.
Quarterfinal games on March 2 tip off at 7:00 p.m. #4 Pace will host the winner of Southern New Hampshire-Bentley, #3 American International will host the winner of Le Moyne-Saint Rose, #2 Stonehill will host the winner of UMass Lowell-Saint Michael's, and #1 Southern Connecticut will host the winner of Assumption-Franklin Pierce.
The Final Four will take place at the sight of the highest remaining seed after the quarterfinal. Semifinal games take place Friday, March 3 at 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. The championship is slated for Saturday, March 4 at 7:00 p.m.
NOTES: Since joining the Northeast-10 Conference in the 2000-2001 season, Southern Connecticut has appeared in five tournaments and has an overall tournament record of 4-5. Last year, the Owls earned the #2 seed and advanced in the quarterfinal game and made its first ever appearance in the NE-10 Final Four Stonehill is appearing in its 25th tournament. The only other team to appear in every tournament along with the Skyhawks is Bentley. Stonehill's last tournament title came in 1995, when the team also won the regular season American International is appearing in its 23rd Northeast-10 Women's Basketball Tournament. The Yellow Jackets captured their only title in 2002, when they were also crowned the regular season champions. Pace claims its 7th post season berth. The Setters advanced to the semifinal round last season and have an overall league post season record of 4-7. Defending tournament champion, Bentley, defeated Merrimack in overtime in last year's final, 61-53 for its 14th tournament title. The Falcons advanced to the NCAA Northeast Regional tournament before bowing to Merrimack 52-44. Bentley sports a league-best 58-10 all-time playoff record and has won 14 of the 24 all-time championships Saint Rose has won four of its seven NE-10 championship games since entering the league, with the Golden Knights best showing coming in 2001 when they were the tournament runner-up after falling to Bentley in the title game by just two points, 60-58 Saint Michael's College is making it's 13th tournament and has not won a tournament game since the 1991-1992 season Franklin Pierce is hosting a first round contest for the first time. The Ravens have made three post season appearances and were the #10 seed last year Assumption will make its 24th championship appearance. The Greyhounds have won 10 NE-10 tournament games and made it to the semifinals six times, with the most recent Final Four appearance being in the 2003-2004 seasonUMass Lowell (4-5 in post season record) was the tournament runner-up in 2002-2003 Le Moyne is making its 7th tournament and was the runner-up in 2001-2002 Southern New Hampshire is making its debut in the Northeast-10 Conference Women's Basketball Tournament Last year's Final Four included Bentley, Southern Connecticut, Merrimack and Pace Southern Connecticut's #1 seed is its highest since joining the NE-10 The tournament features four nationally ranked teams (according to the latest USA Today ESPN Top 25 Women's Basketball Poll for February 22, 2006) Southern Connecticut is #18, Stonehill is #23, AIC is #25, while Pace is receiving votes. 2005-06 Northeast-10 Conference Women's Basketball Championship Tournament
Presented by Anaconda Sports
First Round - Sunday, February 26
Game 1:#12 Southern N.H. (9-18) at #5 Bentley (18-12) 2:00 p.m.
Game 2:#11 Le Moyne (11-16) at #6 Saint Rose (16-11) 2:00 p.m.
Game 3:#10 UMass Lowell (10-17) at #7 Saint Michael's (17-10) 2:00 p.m.
Game 4:#9 Assumption (15-12) at #8 Franklin Pierce (14-13) 2:00 p.m.
Quarterfinals Tuesday, February 28
Game 5:Game 1 Winner at #4 Pace (21-6) 7:00 p.m.
Game 6:Game 2 Winner at #3 American International (21-6) 7:00 p.m.
Game 7:Game 3 Winner at #2 Stonehill (22-5) 7:00 p.m.
Game 8:Game 4 Winner at #1 Southern Connecticut (24-3) 7:00 p.m.
Final Four at highest remaining seed Friday, March 3
Game 9:Game 6 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner6:00 p.m.
Game 10: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner 8:00 p.m.
Championship Saturday, March 4
Game 11: Game 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner 7:00 p.m.
RELEASE COURTESY OF NORTHEAST-10 CONFERENCE OFFICE
OF MEDIA RELATIONS
