E8 Women's Basketball Tournament Field Set
On the final weekend of the Empire 8 regular season the seeding and hosting rights for the 2016 E8 Women's Basketball Tournament were determined.
Stevens Institute of Technology and St. John Fisher College finished for a tie at the top of the standings with a 15-1 conference record forcing tiebreaker critieria to decide the top seed and host. The two teams split head to head in the regular season and defeated every other conference team twice. The third criteria is road record verse conference opponents which they both finished with an idential record of 7-1, resulting in a comparison of NCAA strength of schedule index within region ultimately giving the Ducks the advtange and the top seed.
Ithaca and Nazareth finished for tie in the standings with an 11-5 conference record. They split head to head in the regular season, lost twice to top-seeded Stevens and second-seeded Fisher and defeated every other conference team twice. They had an idential road record verse conference opponents, resulting in a comparison of NCAA strength of schedule index within region ultimately giving the Bombers the advantage and the third seed.
The two semifinals matches will take place on Friday, Feb. 26 at Stevens. The two winners will meet on Saturday, February 27 in the Empire 8 Championship with the winner earning an automatic bid and advancing to the 2016 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament.
Friday, February 26
No. 4 Nazareth at No. 1 Stevens, 6:00 pm
No. 3 Ithaca v No. 2 St. John Fisher, 8:00 pm
Saturday, February 27
Championship will begin at 4:00 pm