ECC Champion Wildcats Headed To First-Ever NCAA Tourney

3/8/2020 10:21:00 PM

By: By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

AMHERST, N.Y. - Fresh off the program's first-ever East Coast Conference tournament championship, Daemen College is dancing into the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championship which gets underway later this week with regional tournaments across the country. The full 64-team NCAA tournament bracket was announced late this evening in a selection show broadcast on NCAA.com.

The tournament field is broken down into eight regions, consisting of eight teams each. Daemen is one of 24 conference champions to earn an automatic qualifying bid to the tournament. The Division II Women's Basketball Committee selects the remaining 40 at-large bids.

Daemen is the No. 7 seed in the East Region, and the Wildcats will make their NCAA tournament debut by meeting second-seeded Stonehill College in a first-round game this Friday, March 13 at the Center for Recreation and Sport on the campus of Adelphi University in Garden City, N.Y. Adelphi was awarded the region's No. 1 seed and host privileges for the entire regional tournament. The top-seeded Panthers will meet eighth-seeded Jefferson University, which captured the Central Atlantic Athletic Conference championship earlier today. Additional first-round matchups include No. 4 University of the Sciences taking on fifth-seeded and ECC runner-up Molloy College and an all-Northeast-10 Conference matchup with No. 3 St. Anselm College meeting No. 6 Le Moyne College.

Game times, ticket and broadcast information for the East Region Championship will be announced later this week.

Daemen will enter NCAA tournament play with a 23-5 record. After capturing a share of their first ECC regular-season title with a 13-3 conference mark, the Wildcats went on to win the ECC tournament crown in our nation's capital this weekend. Daemen downed third-seeded New York Tech 76-56 in the semifinals, snapping the Bears' nine-game winning streak. In Sunday's tournament final, they broke the eight-game winning streak of fourth-seeded Molloy College with a 68-56 triumph. The Wildcats have won 15 of their last 17 games, and are in the midst of the program's first 20-win season since gaining full NCAA Division II membership prior to the 2015-16 academic year.

Stonehill will enter the NCAA tournament with a matching 23-5 record. The Skyhawks knocked off St. Anselm earlier today to win their sixth NE-10 tournament crown. The Wildcats and Skyhawks met in the 2019-20 season opener, a game won 77-70 by the latter. It's one of just four losses to East Region opponents for the Wildcats this season. The Daemen-Stonehill winner advances to Saturday's regional semifinals to face either St. Anselm or Le Moyne. A full opening-round preview will be posted to daemenwildcats.com later this week.

Winners of the eight regional tournaments will advance to the Elite Eight which is slated for March 24-27 at the Birmingham (Ala.) CrossPlex.

Regional Schedule (all played at Adelphi University, Center for Recreation & Sport, Garden City, N.Y.)
Friday, March 13 – First Round games
12 p.m.            Game No. 1. – TBA
2:30 p.m.         Game No. 2 – TBA
5 p.m.              Game No. 3 – TBA
7:30 p.m.         Game No. 4 – TBA

Saturday, March 14 – Regional Semifinals
5 p.m.              Game No. 5. (Winner Game No. 1 vs. Winner Game No. 2)
7:30 p.m.         Game No. 6. (Winner Game No. 3 vs. Winner Game No. 4)

Monday, March 16 – Regional Championship Game
7 p.m.              Game No. 7. (Winner Game No. 5 vs. Winner Game No. 6)

National Schedule (all played at Birmingham CrossPlex, Birmingham, Ala.)
Tuesday, March 24 – National Quarterfinals
Wednesday, March 25 – National Semifinals
Friday, March 27 – National Championship Game

Print Friendly Version