ATTLEBORO, Mass. – The Lesley University women's basketball team are a back in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Championship Tournament for the first time in five years, announced Saturday evening.
The Lynx will travel to Weston, Mass. to tip-off against regular season champion, Regis College (19-6, 18-0), Tuesday evening at 7:00 p.m. It is the first time since the 2010-2011 season, when they faced Daniel Webster College in the semifinals, the Lynx have made the post-season tournament.
If Lesley upsets host Regis, they will move on to face the winner of the fourth-seed Mitchell College and fifth-seed Wheelock College game, on Thursday February 23rd.
Becker College and Elms College both finished the NECC season with a record of 13-5, while the Elms take the second seed after the tiebreaker. Elms will host seventh seeded Daniel Webster College on Tuesday at 7:00pm.
The Hawks of Becker College take the third seed and the right to host a first round game. They will match up against the sixth seeded Newbury College who finished with a record of 8-10. Newbury hopes to upset their opponents as they did in the 2016 playoffs which earned them a spot in the NECC Championship game.
The fourth quarterfinal game will be hosted by Mitchell College, who finished with a record of 12-6. The Mariners finished the regular season tied with Wheelock, but through a tiebreaker they will host the fifth seeded Wildcats. The two teams split the regular season contests ensuring this will be a highly contested game.
The winners of the first round games will advance to the semifinals Thursday, February 23rd, which will be played at the highest remaining seeds. The semifinal winners will then face off in the NECC Championship on Saturday, February 25th, at the highest remaining seed.
First Round – Tuesday, February 21st
Game 1: #5 Wheelock @ #4 Mitchell 6:00 p.m.
Game 2: #6 Newbury @ #3 Becker 7:00 p.m.
Game 3: #7 Daniel Webster @ #2 Elms 7:00 p.m.
Game 4: #8 Lesley @ #1 Regis 7:00 p.m.
Semifinals – Thursday, February 23rd
Game 5: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 4 - TBA
Game 6: Winner of Game 2 vs. Winner of Game 3 – TBA
Championship – Saturday, February 25th
Game 7: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner – TBA