2026 America East women's basketball tournament
| 2026 America East women's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2025–26 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Site | Campus sites |
| Champions | Vermont (9th title) |
| Winning coach | Alisa Kresge (3rd title) |
| Television | ESPN+ ESPNU |
America East women's basketball tournaments | |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vermont † | 13 | – | 3 | .813 | 27 | – | 7 | .794 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maine | 12 | – | 4 | .750 | 19 | – | 13 | .594 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Binghamton | 10 | – | 6 | .625 | 19 | – | 12 | .613 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UMBC | 10 | – | 6 | .625 | 16 | – | 14 | .533 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NJIT | 9 | – | 7 | .563 | 18 | – | 12 | .600 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bryant | 8 | – | 8 | .500 | 18 | – | 12 | .600 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Hampshire | 4 | – | 12 | .250 | 10 | – | 20 | .333 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Albany | 4 | – | 12 | .250 | 14 | – | 16 | .467 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UMass Lowell | 2 | – | 14 | .125 | 8 | – | 21 | .276 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2026 AmEast tournament winner As of March 13, 2026 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2026 America East Women's Basketball Conference tournament was the 2026 postseason women's basketball tournament for the America East Conference. It was held March 5–13, 2026 at the campus sites of the higher seeds. The winner received the conference's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA tournament. The tournament is sponsored by the United States Air Force Reserve and is officially known as the 2026 Air Force Reserve America East Women's Basketball Playoffs.[1]
Seeds
Eight of the nine America East teams qualified for the tournament. The teams are seeded by conference record, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records.[2]
| Seed | School | AmEast Record | Tiebreaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vermont | 13–3 | |
| 2 | Maine | 12–4 | |
| 3 | Binghamton | 10–6 | Better non-conference record |
| 4 | UMBC | 10–6 | |
| 5 | NJIT | 9–7 | |
| 6 | Bryant | 8–8 | |
| 7 | New Hampshire | 4–12 | 2–0 against Albany |
| 8 | Albany | 4–12 | 0–2 against New Hampshire |
| DNQ | UMass Lowell | 2–14 |
Schedule
| Game | Time* | Matchup# | Score | Television |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 5, 2026 | ||||
| 1 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 8 Albany at No. 1 Vermont | 40–55 | ESPN+ |
| 2 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 7 New Hampshire at No. 2 Maine | 58–77 | |
| 3 | 6:07 p.m. | No. 6 Bryant at No. 3 Binghamton | 44–45 | |
| 4 | 6:30 p.m. | No. 5 NJIT at No. 4 UMBC | 65–66 | |
| Semifinals – Monday, March 9, 2026 | ||||
| 5 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 4 UMBC at No. 1 Vermont | 65–682OT | ESPN+ |
| 6 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 3 Binghamton at No. 2 Maine | 56–60 | |
| Championship – Friday, March 13, 2026 | ||||
| 7 | 5:00 p.m. | No. 2 Maine at No. 1 Vermont | 43–61 | ESPNU |
| *Game times in EST for the quarter finals and EDT for the semifinals and championship. #-Rankings denote tournament seeding. | ||||
Bracket
| Quarterfinals Thursday, March 5, 2026 ESPN+ | Semifinals Monday, March 9, 2026 ESPN+ | Championship Friday, March 13, 2026 ESPNU | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Vermont | 55 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Albany | 40 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Vermont | 68** | ||||||||||||
| 4 | UMBC | 65 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Maine | 77 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | New Hampshire | 58 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Vermont | 61 | ||||||||||||
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | Maine | 43 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Binghamton | 45 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Bryant | 44 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Maine | 60 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Binghamton | 56 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | UMBC | 66 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | NJIT | 65 | ||||||||||||
* denotes overtime period
See also
References
- ^ "Air Force Reserve Tabbed Title Sponsor of 2025 America East Playoffs". www.americaeast.com. Retrieved March 1, 2026.
- ^ "Vermont Claims No. 1 Seed in Air Force Reserve Women's Basketball Playoffs". americaeast.com. February 28, 2026. Retrieved February 28, 2026.