2026 NEC women's basketball tournament

The 2026 NEC Women's Basketball Tournament was the postseason women's basketball tournament for the Northeast Conference for the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The tournament was held on three dates between March 9 and 15, 2026, with all tournament games played in the home arenas of the better-seeded school. The winner received the conference's auto bid into the 2026 NCAA tournament.

2026 Northeast Conference women's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	2025–26
Teams	8
Site	Campus sites
Television	ESPNU, ESPN+, NEC Front Row
Northeast Conference women's basketball tournaments

2025–26 Northeast Conference women's basketball standings

	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Fairleigh Dickinson †	18	–	0		1.000			30	–	5		.857
Mercyhurst*	14	–	4		.778			15	–	17		.469
LIU	14	–	4		.778			21	–	11		.656
Wagner	9	–	9		.500			13	–	17		.433
Le Moyne*	9	–	9		.500			12	–	21		.364
Chicago State	8	–	10		.444			9	–	23		.281
Stonehill	8	–	10		.444			12	–	18		.400
New Haven**	5	–	13		.278			7	–	22		.241
Saint Francis	3	–	15		.167			3	–	27		.100
Central Connecticut	2	–	16		.111			2	–	27		.069
† 2026 NEC tournament winner * ineligible for the 2026 NCAA tournament due to transition from Division II ** ineligible for both the 2026 NEC tournament and the 2026 NCAA tournament due to transition from Division II

This will also the first women's tournament held under the "NEC" name. On October 2, 2025, the conference changed its name from the Northeast Conference to its longstanding initialism of NEC.

Seeds

Seed	School	Conf.	Tiebreaker
1	Fairleigh Dickinson	18–0
2	Mercyhurst	14–4	2–0 vs. Wagner
3	LIU	14–4	1–1 vs. Wagner
4	Wagner	9–9	1–1 vs. LIU
5	Le Moyne	9–9	0–2 vs. LIU
6	Chicago State	8–10	1–1 vs. Mercyhurst
7	Stonehill	8–10	0–2 vs. Mercyhurst
DNQ	New Haven	5–13
8	Saint Francis	3–15
DNQ	Central Connecticut	2–16

Schedule

Game	Time*	Matchup	Score	Television	Attendance
Quarterfinals – Monday, March 9
1	6 p.m.	No. 7 Stonehill at No. 2 Mercyhurst	64–70	NEC Front Row	409
2	7 p.m.	No. 8 Saint Francis at No. 1 FDU	56–81		459
3		No. 6 Chicago State at No. 3 LIU	77–99		179
4		No. 5 Le Moyne at No. 4 Wagner	54–47		498
Semifinals – Thursday, March 12
5	7 p.m.	No. 5 Le Moyne at No. 1 FDU	51–71	ESPN+	467
6		No. 3 LIU at No. 2 Mercyhurst	82–64		463
Championship – Sunday, March 15
7	Noon	No. 3 LIU at No. 1 FDU	57–79	ESPNU	590
*Game times in ET. Rankings denote tournament seed.

Bracket

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

	Quarterfinals Monday, March 9 NEC Front Row					Semifinals Thursday, March 12 ESPN+					Final Sunday, March 15 ESPNU
	1	Fairleigh Dickinson	81
	8	St. Francis (PA)	56
						1	Fairleigh Dickinson	71
						5	Le Moyne	51
	2	Mercyhurst	70
	7	Stonehill	64
											1	Fairleigh Dickinson	79
	Pairings are reseeded after the quarterfinals.
											3	LIU	57
	3	LIU	99
	6	Chicago State	77
						2	Mercyhurst	64
						3	LIU	82
	4	Wagner	47
	5	Le Moyne	54

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