The 2016 Horizon League women's basketball tournament was a postseason tournament from March 10 through March 13. For the first time every game will be available on an ESPN Network. Rounds 1 & 2 will be on ESPN3, with the semifinals on TWCS and simulcast on ESPN3. The championship will be on ESPNU. As a D2 to D1 transitioning school, Northern Kentucky were ineligible to compete in the NCAA tournament until the 2018 season, so they can not win the conference tournament since the winner received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. However Northern Kentucky is eligible to win the regular season title and is eligible to compete in the WNIT or WBI should they be invited. The tournament champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA women's tournament.
| 2016 Horizon League women's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2015–16 |
| Teams | 10 |
| Site | Kress Events Center Green Bay, Wisconsin |
| Champions | Green Bay (14th title) |
| Winning coach | Kevin Borseth (10th title) |
| MVP | Mehryn Kraker (Green Bay) |
| Television | ESPN3, TWCS and ESPNU |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Green Bay † | 16 | – | 2 | .889 | 28 | – | 5 | .848 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wright State | 12 | – | 6 | .667 | 24 | – | 11 | .686 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Milwaukee | 12 | – | 6 | .667 | 19 | – | 13 | .594 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Detroit | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 15 | – | 15 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youngstown State | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 21 | – | 13 | .618 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Kentucky* | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 19 | – | 14 | .576 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oakland | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 15 | – | 15 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cleveland State | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 9 | – | 20 | .310 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Valparaiso | 5 | – | 13 | .278 | 10 | – | 21 | .323 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois-Chicago | 3 | – | 15 | .167 | 12 | – | 18 | .400 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| * Ineligible for NCAA postseason during transition to Division I. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2016 Horizon League Tournament winner As of March 23, 2016 Rankings from AP poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Seeds
editAll 10 Horizon League schools participate in the tournament. Teams are seeded by 2015–16 Horizon League season record. The top 6 teams received a first-round bye and top 2 teams will get a double bye. Seeding for the tournament was determined at the close of the regular conference season:
| Seed | Team | Record | Tiebreaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Green Bay | 16–2 | |
| 2 | Milwaukee | 12–4 | 2–0 vs. Wright State |
| 3 | Wright State | 12–4 | 0–2 vs. Milwaukee |
| 4 | Detroit | 9–7 | |
| 5 | Northern Kentucky | 9–9 | 2–0 vs. Youngstown State |
| 6 | Youngstown State | 9–9 | 0–2 vs. Northern Kentucky |
| 7 | Oakland | 7–11 | |
| 8 | Cleveland State | 6–12 | |
| 9 | Valparaiso | 5–13 | |
| 10 | UIC | 3–15 |
Schedule
edit| Game | Time* | Matchup# | Television |
|---|---|---|---|
| First round – Thursday, March 10 (Hosted by Green Bay) | |||
| 1 | 12:00 PM | #9 Valparaiso vs #4 Detroit | ESPN3 |
| 2 | 2:30 PM | #8 Cleveland State vs #5 Northern Kentucky | ESPN3 |
| 3 | 5:00 PM | #10 UIC vs #3 Wright State | ESPN3 |
| 4 | 7:30 PM | #7 Oakland vs #6 Youngstown State | ESPN3 |
| Quarterfinals - Friday, March 11 | |||
| 5 | 5:00 PM | #9 Valparaiso vs #5 Northern Kentucky | ESPN3 |
| 6 | 7:30 PM | #6 Youngstown State vs #3 Wright State | ESPN3 |
| Semifinals – Saturday, March 12 | |||
| 7 | 3:00 PM | #5 Northern Kentucky at #1 Green Bay | TWCS |
| 7 | 5:30 PM | #3 Wright State vs. #2 Milwaukee | TWCS |
| Championship – Sunday, March 13 | |||
| 8 | 12:00 PM | #2 Milwaukee at #1 Green Bay | ESPNU |
| *First and second round times are local time. Semifinal and championship times are in Central Time Zone. *Rankings denote tournament seeding. | |||
Tournament bracket
edit| First round Thursday, March 10 | Second round Friday, March 11 | Semifinals Saturday, March 12 | Championship Sunday, March 13 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Green Bay | 80** | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Detroit | 91 | 5 | Northern Kentucky | 78 | ||||||||||||||
| 9 | Valparaiso | 94* | 9 | Valparaiso | 53 | ||||||||||||||
| 5 | Northern Kentucky | 71 | 5 | Northern Kentucky | 76 | ||||||||||||||
| 8 | Cleveland State | 59 | 1 | Green Bay | 64 | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | Milwaukee | 32 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Milwaukee | 68 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Wright State | 71 | 3 | Wright State | 60 | ||||||||||||||
| 10 | UIC | 55 | 3 | Wright State | 81 | ||||||||||||||
| 6 | Youngstown State | 65 | 6 | Youngstown State | 54 | ||||||||||||||
| 7 | Oakland | 63 | |||||||||||||||||
* - denotes overtime period
References
edit- ^ "2016 Horizon League Women's Basketball Tournament Bracket" (PDF). Retrieved February 29, 2016.