2024 Northeast Conference women's basketball tournament

The 2024 Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Tournament was the postseason women's basketball tournament for the Northeast Conference (NEC) for the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The tournament began on March 11, 2024 with first-round games, followed by semifinals on March 14 and the final on March 17, with all tournament games being played in the home arenas of the higher-seeded school. Regular-season NEC champion Sacred Heart won the tournament, receiving the conference's automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. The championship game was also Sacred Heart's last in NEC play, as the university will join the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in July 2024.

2024 Northeast Conference women's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	2023–24
Teams	8
Site	Campus sites
Champions	Sacred Heart (5th title)
Winning coach	Jessica Mannetti (2nd title)
MVP	Ny'Ceara Pryor (Sacred Heart)
Television	ESPNU, ESPN+, NEC Front Row
Northeast Conference women's basketball tournaments ← 2023 2025 →

2023–24 Northeast Conference women's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Sacred Heart †	15	–	1		.938			24	–	10		.706
Le Moyne*	14	–	2		.875			18	–	15		.545
Fairleigh Dickinson	11	–	5		.688			14	–	17		.452
Merrimack	8	–	8		.500			12	–	19		.387
Central Connecticut	7	–	9		.438			9	–	21		.300
LIU	5	–	11		.313			8	–	22		.267
Stonehill*	4	–	12		.250			4	–	26		.133
Saint Francis	4	–	12		.250			5	–	25		.167
Wagner	4	–	12		.250			7	–	21		.250
* ineligible for the 2024 NCAA tournament due to transition period
† 2024 NEC tournament winner

Seeds

The top eight teams in the conference regular-season standings qualified. Effective with the 2023–24 academic year, NEC teams transitioning from Division II are eligible for the NEC tournament during the entirety of their transition periods. If a reclassifying institution wins the NEC tournament championship, the tournament runner-up will be awarded the NEC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. If two reclassifying teams reach the final of the NEC tournament, the conference will stage an automatic qualifier game between the two non-advancing semifinalists.^[1] Previously, transitioning NEC teams were eligible for the conference tournament only during their third and fourth transition years. The rule change results in Stonehill and Le Moyne being eligible for the 2024 NEC tournament, since Stonehill is in its second transition year, and Le Moyne is in its first.

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

Seed	School	Conf.	Tiebreaker	Notes
1	Sacred Heart	15–1
2	Le Moyne	14–2
3	Fairleigh Dickinson	11–5
4	Merrimack	8–8
5	Central Connecticut	7–9
6	LIU	5–11
7	Stonehill	4–12	3–1 vs. Saint Francis/Wagner
8	Saint Francis	4–12	2–2 vs. Stonehill/Wagner
DNQ	Wagner	4–12	1–3 vs. Stonehill/Saint Francis

Schedule

Game^[4]	Time*	Matchup	Score	Television
Quarterfinals – Monday, March 11
1	7:00 pm	No. 8 Saint Francis at No. 1 Sacred Heart	48–78	NEC Front Row
2	7:00 pm	No. 7 Stonehill at No. 2 Le Moyne	59–79
3	7:00 pm	No. 6 LIU at No. 3 Fairleigh Dickinson	59–71
4	7:00 pm	No. 5 Central Connecticut at No. 4 Merrimack	51–76
Semifinals – Thursday, March 14
5	7:00 pm	No. 4 Merrimack at No. 1 Sacred Heart	41–73	YES, ESPN+
6	7:00 pm	No. 3 Fairleigh Dickinson at No. 2 Le Moyne	38–52
Championship – Sunday, March 17
7	12:00 pm	No. 2 Le Moyne at No. 1 Sacred Heart	48–69	ESPNU
*Game times in ET. Rankings denote tournament seed

Tournament notes

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final

Bracket

Teams will be reseeded after each round with highest remaining seeds receiving home-court advantage.

	Quarterfinals Monday, March 11 NEC Front Row					Semifinals Thursday, March 14 YES/ESPN+					Championship Sunday, March 17 ESPNU
	1	Sacred Heart	78
	8	Saint Francis	48
						1	Sacred Heart	73
						4	Merrimack	41
	4	Merrimack	76
	5	Central Connecticut	51
											1	Sacred Heart	69
	(Pairings are reseeded after the first round)
											2	Le Moyne	48
	2	Le Moyne	79
	7	Stonehill	59
						2	Le Moyne	52
						3	Fairleigh Dickinson	38
	3	Fairleigh Dickinson	71
	6	LIU	59

Awards and honors

Tournament MVP:

First Team

References

1. "2023 NEC Spring Meeting Recap". Northeast Conference. June 15, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
2. "2024 Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Championship". Northeast Conference. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
3. "NEC Women's Basketball Tiebreaker Procedure". Northeast Conference. February 24, 2021. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
4. "2024 Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Championship". Northeast Conference. Retrieved February 19, 2024.