2018 Women's Basketball Tournament Field Set
On the final weekend of the Empire 8 regular season the seeding for the 2018 E8 Women's Basketball Tournament was determined.
St. John Fisher College secured hosting rights a week ago and finished at the top of the standings with a 15-1 record. Fisher's only conference loss of season came to Houghton College back on January 12.
New to the Empire 8 in 2017-18, The Sage Colleges secured the No. 2 seed with a 12-4 record. The Gators won six of its final seven games
Stevens Institute of Technology won its final five games to finish the regular season with a 10-6 conference mark, securing the third seed.
Houghton College and Nazareth College finished for a tie at 9-7 forcing tiebreaker criteria to decide the fouth seed. The two teams split head to head in the regular season so their records against the conference teams in desending orders were compared. Houghton split with top seed Fisher, while Nazareth lost twice, giving Houghton the No. 4 seed.
Houghton needed the win today to make the tournament and did so in comeback fashion. The Highlanders trailed 53-39 late in the third quarter and managed to cut the deficit to eight points (55-47) to start the fourth. Houghton carried the momentum and took the lead 62-61 enroute to the 71-65 final.
The two semifinals matches will take place on Friday, Feb. 23 at Fisher. The two winners will meet on Saturday, February 24 in the Empire 8 Championship with the winner earning an automatic bid and advancing to the 2018 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament.
Friday, February 23
No. 3 Stevens v No. 2 Sage, 6:00 pm
No. 4 Houghton at No. 1 St. John Fisher, 8:00 pm
Saturday, February 24
Championship will begin at 4:00 pm