The St. Thomas Aquinas College women's basketball team takes the #4 seed into the the East Region of the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament, setting the stage for Friday's first round battle against #5 Caldwell University at 7:30 pm. The East Regional will be hosted by top seeded Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts, with full schedule to be announced.
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St. Thomas Aquinas captured its first East Coast Conference championship title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tourney with Sunday's 53-40 victory over New York Institute of Technology. The Lady Spartans have now won 11-of-12 games overall and carry a 26-4 overall record into their first national tournament appearance since 2003. Caldwell was eliminated in the semi-finals of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Confernece Tournament but received an at-large bid on the strength of their 24-6 overall mark.
These teams met during the regular season, with STAC grabbing an 86-54 decision at Aquinas Hall on November 29, 2017. East Coast Conference Player of the Year Jenna Erickson led the way with 19 points in that contest, with Emily Preston chipping in 13 to go with eight rebounds. Karlie O'Driscoll was the lone Cougar scorer in double-figures with 12.
The winner of Friday's game will advance to meet the winner of the #1 Stonehill vs. #8 Southern Connecticut match up. Other pairings include #2 Bentley squaring off against #7 Jefferson, and #3 USciences taking on #6 LIU Post.
2018 NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN'S BASKETBALL EAST REGION
No. 1 seed – Stonehill College (26-3, 20-1 NE10)… Northeast-10 Regular Season Champions (at large bid)
No. 2 seed – Bentley University (27-3, 18-3 NE10)… NE10 Tournament Champions (automatic bid)
No. 3 seed – University of the Sciences in Philadephia (28-3, 17-2 CACC)… Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Champions (automatic bid)
No. 4 seed – St Thomas Aquinas College (26-4, 16-2 ECC)… East Coast Conference Tournament Champions (automatic bid)
No. 5 seed – Caldwell University (24-6, 16-3 CACC)… CACC Division Co-Champions (at large bid)
No. 6 seed – LIU Post (22-7, 17-2 ECC)… ECC Regular Season Champions (at large bid)
No. 7 seed – Jefferson University (26-5, 16-3 CACC)… CACC South Division & Tournament Runners-Up (at large bid)
No. 8 seed – Southern Connecticut State University (21-9, 14-6 NE10)… NE10 Southwest Division Champions (at large bid)
NCAA DIVISION II EAST REGIONAL SCHEDULE
QUARTERFINALS – FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2018
#6 LIU Post (22-7, 17-2 ECC) vs. #3 USciences (28-3, 17-2 CACC), Noon
#7 Jefferson (26-5, 16-3 CACC) vs. #2 Bentley (27-3, 18-3 NE10), 2:30 p.m.
#8 Southern Connecticut State (21-9, 14-6 NE10) at #1 Stonehill (26-3, 20-1 NE10), 5 p.m.
#5 Caldwell (24-6, 16-3 CACC) vs. #4 St. Thomas Aquinas (26-4, 16-2 ECC), 7:30 p.m.
SEMIFINALS – SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2018
#3-#6 winner vs. #2-#7 winner 5:00 pm
#1-#8 winner vs. #4-#5 winner, 7:30 pm
CHAMPIONSHIP – MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2014, 7 p.m.