2023 Northeast Conference women's basketball tournament

The 2023 Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Tournament was the postseason women's basketball tournament for the Northeast Conference for the 2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The tournament took place on three dates between March 6, 9 and March 12, 2023, and all tournament games were played on home arenas of the higher-seeded school. The tournament winner received the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

2023 Northeast Conference women's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2022–23
Teams8
SiteCampus sites
ChampionsSacred Heart (4th title)
Winning coachJessica Mannetti (1st title)
TelevisionNEC Front Row, ESPN3, ESPNU
← 2022
2024 →
2022–23 Northeast Conference women's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Fairleigh Dickinson 14 2   .875 24 8   .750
Sacred Heart 12 4   .750 19 14   .576
Merrimack* 10 6   .625 15 16   .484
St. Francis Brooklyn 9 7   .563 11 19   .367
Wagner 8 8   .500 13 15   .464
Saint Francis (PA) 6 10   .375 7 22   .241
Stonehill* 5 11   .313 9 20   .310
LIU 5 11   .313 7 22   .241
Central Connecticut 3 13   .188 7 22   .241
* ineligible for the 2023 NCAA tournament due to transition period
2023 NEC tournament winner
As of March 17, 2023

Seeds

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All eight eligible teams of the nine members of the conference qualified. Effective for the 2022–23 academic year, NEC teams transitioning from Division II were eligible for the NEC tournament during their third and fourth years of the transition period.[1] If a reclassifying institution won the NEC tournament championship, the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament went to the NEC tournament runner up.[1] The rule change regarding reclassifying institutions resulted in Merrimack being eligible for the 2023 NEC tournament,[1] since it is in its fourth transition year.

Teams were seeded by record within the conference,[2] with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records.[3]

Stonehill College joined the Northeast Conference from the Division II Northeast-10 Conference. Stonehill was ineligible for the NCAA tournament until the 2026–27 season during its four-year reclassification period and won't be eligible for the NEC tournament until the 2024–25 season.[4]

Seed School Conf.
1 Fairleigh Dickinson 14-2
2 Sacred Heart 12-4
3 Merrimack 10-6
4 St. Francis Brooklyn 9-7
5 Wagner 8-8
6 Saint Francis (PA) 6-10
7 LIU 5-11
8 Central Connecticut 3-13

Schedule

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Session Game[5] Time* Matchup Score Television
Quarterfinals – Monday, March 6
1 1 7:00 pm No. 8 Central Connecticut at No. 1 Fairleigh Dickinson 48-74 NEC Front Row
2 7:00 pm No. 7 LIU at No. 2 Sacred Heart 44-63
2 3 7:00 pm No. 6 Saint Francis (PA) at No. 3 Merrimack 60-66
4 7:00 pm No. 5 Wagner at No. 4 St. Francis Brooklyn 51-58
Semifinals – Thursday, March 9
3 5 7:00 pm No. 4 St. Francis Brooklyn at No. 1 Fairleigh Dickinson 40-59 SNY, ESPN3
6 7:00 pm No. 3 Merrimack at No. 2 Sacred Heart 61-68
Championship – Sunday, March 12
4 7 12:00 pm No. 2 Sacred Heart at No. 1 Fairleigh Dickinson 72-60 ESPN3/ESPNU
*Game times in ET. Rankings denote tournament seed

Bracket

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Teams were reseeded after each round with highest remaining seeds receiving home court advantage.

Quarterfinals
Monday, March 6
NEC Front Row
Semifinals
Thursday, March 9,
NEC Front Row
Championship
Sunday, March 12
ESPN3/ESPNU
         
1 Fairleigh Dickinson 74
8 Central Connecticut 48
1 Fairleigh Dickinson 59
4 St. Francis Brooklyn 40
4 St. Francis Brooklyn 58
5 Wagner 51
1 Fairleigh Dickinson 60
(Pairings are reseeded after the first round)
2 Sacred Heart 72
2 Sacred Heart 63
7 LIU 44
2 Sacred Heart 68
3 Merrimack 61
3 Merrimack 66
6 Saint Francis (PA) 60

References

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  1. ^ a b c "2022 NEC Spring Meeting Recap". Northeast Conference. June 28, 2022. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  2. ^ "2023 Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Championship". Northeast Conference. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  3. ^ "NEC Men's Basketball Tiebreaker Procedure". Northeast Conference. February 24, 2021. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  4. ^ "Stonehill Announces Transition to NCAA Division I for 2022-23 Academic Year". April 5, 2022. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. ^ "2023 Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Championship - Northeast Conference". northeastconference.org. Retrieved February 28, 2023.