2026 Southland Conference women's basketball tournament
| 2026 Southland Conference women's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2025–26 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Site | The Legacy Center Lake Charles, Louisiana |
| Champions | Stephen F. Austin (18th title) |
| Winning coach | Leonard Bishop (2nd title) |
| Television | ESPN+, ESPNU |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| McNeese | 21 | – | 1 | .955 | 29 | – | 6 | .829 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lamar | 17 | – | 5 | .773 | 20 | – | 11 | .645 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stephen F. Austin † | 16 | – | 6 | .727 | 25 | – | 10 | .714 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UT Rio Grande Valley | 16 | – | 6 | .727 | 21 | – | 14 | .600 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern State | 14 | – | 8 | .636 | 18 | – | 14 | .563 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Incarnate Word | 11 | – | 11 | .500 | 13 | – | 17 | .433 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nicholls | 10 | – | 12 | .455 | 15 | – | 16 | .484 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| East Texas A&M | 9 | – | 13 | .409 | 13 | – | 17 | .433 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Houston Christian | 6 | – | 16 | .273 | 8 | – | 21 | .276 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | 5 | – | 17 | .227 | 6 | – | 23 | .207 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Southeastern Louisiana | 4 | – | 18 | .182 | 5 | – | 24 | .172 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Orleans | 3 | – | 19 | .136 | 3 | – | 27 | .100 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2026 Southland tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2026 Southland Conference women's basketball tournament was be the postseason women's basketball tournament for the 2025–26 season of the Southland Conference. The tournament was held March 9–12, 2026, at The Legacy Center in Lake Charles, Louisiana.[1] The tournament winner, Stephen F. Austin received the conference's automatic invitation to the 2026 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament.
Seeds
Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tie–breaker system to seed teams with identical conference records. Eight teams in the conference qualify for the tournament. The top two seeds received double byes into the semifinals in the merit-based format. The No. 3 and No. 4 seeds receive single byes to the quarterfinals. Tiebreakers used were 1) Head-to-head results, 2) comparison of records against individual teams in the conference starting with the top-ranked team(s) and working down and 3) NCAA NET rankings available on day following the conclusion of regular-season play.[2]
| Seed | School | Conference | Tiebreaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McNeese | 21–1 | |
| 2 | Lamar | 17–5 | |
| 3 | Stephen F. Austin | 16–6 | 2–0 vs. Northwestern State |
| 4 | UT Rio Grande Valley | 16–6 | 1–1 vs. Northwestern State |
| 5 | Northwestern State | 14–8 | |
| 6 | Incarnate Word | 11–11 | |
| 7 | Nicholls | 10–12 | |
| 8 | East Texas A&M | 9–13 | |
| DNQ | Houston Christian | 6–16 | |
| DNQ | Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | 5–17 | |
| DNQ | Southeastern Louisiana | 4–18 | |
| DNQ | New Orleans | 3–19 |
Schedule
| Session | Game | Time* | Matchup# | Score | Television | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round – Monday, March 9, 2026 | ||||||
| 1 | 1 | 11:00 am | No. 5 Northwestern State vs. No. 8 East Texas A&M | 69–56 | ESPN+ | |
| 2 | 1:30 pm | No. 6 Incarnate Word vs. No. 7 Nicholls | 55–81 | |||
| Quarterfinals – Tuesday, March 10, 2026 | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 11:00 am | No. 4 UT Rio Grande Valley vs. No. 5 Northwestern State | 76–67 | ESPN+ | |
| 4 | 1:30 pm | No. 3 Stephen F. Austin vs. No. 7 Nicholls | 63–60 | |||
| Semifinals – Wednesday, March 11, 2026 | ||||||
| 3 | 5 | 10:30 am | No. 1 McNeese vs. No. 4 UT Rio Grande Valley | 67–52 | ESPN+ | 3,244 |
| 6 | 1:30 pm | No. 2 Lamar vs. No. 3 Stephen F. Austin | 59–64OT | |||
| Championship – Thursday, March 12, 2026 | ||||||
| 4 | 7 | 4:00 pm | No. 1 McNeese vs. No. 3 Stephen F. Austin | 59–71 | ESPNU | |
| *Game times in CDT. #-Rankings denote tournament seeding. | ||||||
Bracket
| First round Monday, March 9 ESPN+ | Quarterfinals Tuesday, March 10 ESPN+ | Semifinals Wednesday, March 11 ESPN+ | Championship Thursday, March 12 ESPNU | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | McNeese | 67 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | UT Rio Grande Valley | 76 | 4 | UT Rio Grande Valley | 52 | |||||||||||||
| 5 | Northwestern State | 69 | 5 | Northwestern State | 67 | 1 | McNeese | 59 | ||||||||||
| 8 | East Texas A&M | 56 | 3 | Stephen F. Austin | 71 | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Lamar | 59 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Stephen F. Austin | 63 | 3 | Stephen F. Austin | 64* | |||||||||||||
| 6 | Incarnate Word | 55 | 7 | Nicholls | 60 | |||||||||||||
| 7 | Nicholls | 81 | ||||||||||||||||
* denotes overtime period
See also
2026 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament
References
- ^ "2026 Air Force Reserve Southland Conference Basketball Championships pres. by Louisiana Office of Tourism". Southland Conference. Retrieved March 6, 2026.
- ^ "Basketball Tie-Breaking Procedures". Southland Conference. Retrieved February 2, 2025.