2026 Big South Conference women's basketball tournament
| 2026 Big South Conference women's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2025–26 |
| Teams | 9 |
| Site | Freedom Hall Civic Center Johnson City, Tennessee |
| Champions | High Point (3rd title) |
| Winning coach | Chelsea Banbury (3rd title) |
| Television | ESPN+, ESPN2 |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| High Point † | 13 | – | 3 | .813 | 27 | – | 5 | .844 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Radford | 12 | – | 4 | .750 | 22 | – | 12 | .647 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Longwood | 11 | – | 5 | .688 | 21 | – | 10 | .677 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gardner–Webb | 9 | – | 7 | .563 | 12 | – | 19 | .387 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winthrop | 7 | – | 9 | .438 | 15 | – | 17 | .469 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UNC Asheville | 7 | – | 9 | .438 | 12 | – | 18 | .400 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Charleston Southern | 6 | – | 10 | .375 | 8 | – | 22 | .267 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USC Upstate | 6 | – | 10 | .375 | 12 | – | 20 | .375 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Presbyterian | 1 | – | 15 | .063 | 3 | – | 27 | .100 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2026 Big South tournament winner As of March 8, 2026 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2026 Big South women's basketball tournament was the postseason women's basketball tournament that ended the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season of the Big South Conference.[1] It was held from March 4–8, 2026 and played at the Freedom Hall Civic Center in Johnson City, Tennessee.[2][3] As tournament champions, High Point received the conference's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA tournament.
Defending champions No. 1 High Point defeated No. 2 Radford 71–67 in the championship game, once again claiming the Big South title for the second consecutive year and the third in program history.
Seeds
All of the conference teams will compete in the tournament. The top seven teams will receive a first-round bye. Teams are seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records.
The tiebreakers operate in the following order:
- Head-to-head record.
- Record against the top-ranked conference team not involved in the tie, going down the standings until the tie is broken. For this purpose, teams with the same conference record are considered collectively. If two teams were unbeaten or winless against an opponent but did not play the same number of games against that opponent, the tie is not considered broken.[4]
| Seed | School | Conference | Overall | Tiebreaker |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | High Point | 13–3 | 25–6 | |
| 2 | Radford | 12–4 | 20–11 | |
| 3 | Longwood | 11–5 | 20–9 | |
| 4 | Gardner–Webb | 9–7 | 12–18 | |
| 5 | Winthrop | 7–9 | 14–18 | 1–1 vs. Longwood |
| 6 | UNC Asheville | 7–9 | 12–17 | 0–2 vs. Longwood |
| 7 | Charleston Southern | 6–10 | 8–21 | 2–0 vs. USC Upstate |
| 8 | USC Upstate | 6–10 | 11–19 | 0–2 vs. Charleston Southern |
| 9 | Presbyterian | 1–15 | 3–26 |
Schedule
| Game | Time* | Matchup | Score | Channel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opening round - Wednesday, March 4 | ||||
| 1 | 5:00 p.m. | No. 8 USC Upstate vs No. 9 Presbyterian | 60–48 | ESPN+ |
| Quarterfinals - Thursday, March 5 | ||||
| 2 | 11:30 a.m. | No. 1 High Point vs No. 8 USC Upstate | 71–53 | ESPN+ |
| 3 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 4 Gardner-Webb vs. No. 5 Winthrop | 52–64 | |
| 4 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 2 Radford vs No. 7 Charleston Southern | 86–67 | |
| 5 | 8:30 p.m. | No. 3 Longwood vs. No. 6 UNC Asheville | 72–58 | |
| Semifinals - Saturday, March 7 | ||||
| 6 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 1 High Point vs No. 5 Winthrop | 79–63 | ESPN+ |
| 7 | 8:30 p.m. | No. 2 Radford vs No. 3 Longwood | 81–58 | |
| Championship - Sunday, March 8 | ||||
| 8 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 1 High Point vs No. 2 Radford | 71–67 | ESPN2 |
| *Game times in ET | ||||
Bracket
| Opening round Wednesday, March 4 ESPN+ | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 5 ESPN+ | Semifinals Saturday, March 7 ESPN+ | Championship Sunday, March 8 ESPN2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | High Point | 71 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | USC Upstate | 53 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | USC Upstate | 60 | |||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Presbyterian | 48 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | High Point | 79 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Winthrop | 63 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Gardner-Webb | 52 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Winthrop | 64 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | High Point | 71 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Radford | 67 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Radford | 86 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Charleston Southern | 67 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Radford | 81 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Longwood | 58 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Longwood | 72 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | UNC Asheville | 58 | |||||||||||||||||
Source:[5]
References
- ^ "2026 Air Force Reserve Big South Basketball Championships - Big South Conference". bigsouthsports.com. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
- ^ "Johnson City, Tennessee Selected as Host Site of 2025 and 2026 Basketball Championships". bigsouthsports.com. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
- ^ Lee, Murray. "Johnson City looking forward to welcoming back Big South basketball championships". WJHL.
- ^ "2026 Big South Conference Women's Basketball Standings". bigsouthsports.com.
- ^ "2026 Air Force Reserve Women's Basketball Championship Bracket (PDF) - Big South Conference" (PDF). bigsouthsports.com. Retrieved December 19, 2025.