| Year: | 2018 |
| Conference: | Northeast Conference |
| Gender: | Women's |
| Teams: | 8 |
| Quarterarena: | DeGol Arena &<br>Student Recreation and Fitness Center |
| Quartercity: | Loretto, Pennsylvania &<br>Moon Township, Pennsylvania |
| Semiarena: | DeGol Arena &<br>Student Recreation and Fitness Center |
| Semicity: | Loretto, Pennsylvania &<br>Moon Township, Pennsylvania |
| Finalarena: | DeGol Arena |
| Finalcity: | Loretto, Pennsylvania |
| Champions: | Saint Francis (PA) |
| Titlecount: | 12th |
| Coach: | Joe Haigh |
| Coachcount: | 1st |
| Mvp: | Jessica Kovatch |
| Mvpteam: | Saint Francis (PA) |
| Topscorer: | Jessica Kovatch |
| Topscorerteam: | Saint Francis (PA) |
| Points: | 103 |
The 2018 Northeast Conference women's basketball tournament was the concluding event of the 2017–18 season of the Northeast Conference (NEC), held from March 7–11, 2018. Unlike most NCAA Division I basketball conference tournaments, the NEC tournament does not include all of the league's teams. The tournament instead features only the top eight teams from regular-season NEC play.[1] Regular-season co-champion Saint Francis of Pennsylvania won the tournament and with it the NEC's automatic berth in the 2018 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament.[2]
For the first time, the NEC Women's Basketball Tournament did not use what the conference calls a "complete high-seed hosting" format, in which all games are played at the home of the higher seed. In addition, the tournament did not reseed teams after each round, a format it had used since the 2011 edition. Instead, each half of the bracket was hosted by one of the league's two top seeds. The final continues to be played at the home court of the top remaining seed.[1]
The NEC uses the following criteria for breaking two-way ties in the conference standings:[3]
The procedure for breaking ties in which three or more teams are involved will not be discussed here, since no such ties existed this season.
| Seed | School | Conference | Overall | Tiebreaker 1 | Tiebreaker 2 | Tiebreaker 3 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | Saint Francis (PA) | 16–2 | 21–9 | 1–1 vs. RMU | 3–1 vs. SFB/SHU, 12–0 vs. remainder of NEC | RPI: 117 | |
| 2 | align=left | Robert Morris | 16–2 | 23–6 | 1–1 vs. SFU | 3–1 vs. SFB/SHU, 12–0 vs. remainder of NEC | RPI: 132 | |
| 3 | align=left | St. Francis Brooklyn | 9–9 | 13–16 | 1–1 vs. SHU | 1–3 vs. SFU/RMU, 4–0 vs. Bryant/LIUB | ||
| 4 | align=left | Sacred Heart | 9–9 | 13–16 | 1–1 vs. SFB | 1–3 vs. SFU/RMU, 2–2 vs. Bryant/LIUB | ||
| 5 | align=left | Bryant | 8–10 | 9–20 | 1–1 vs. LIUB | 0–4 vs. SFU/RMU, 3–1 vs. SFB/SHU | ||
| 6 | align=left | LIU Brooklyn | 8–10 | 12–17 | 1–1 vs. Bryant | 0–4 vs. SFU/RMU, 1–3 vs. SFB/SHU | ||
| 7 | align=left | Central Connecticut | 7–11 | 7–22 | 1–1 vs. FDU | 0–4 vs. SFU/RMU, 3–1 vs. SFB/SHU | ||
| 8 | align=left | Fairleigh Dickinson | 7–11 | 15–14 | 1–1 vs. CC | 0–4 vs. SFU/RMU, 2–2 vs. SFB/SHU |
The top two seeds each hosted their half of the bracket; the final was hosted by the top remaining seed.
Tournament MVP in bold.[2]
| Name | School | |
|---|---|---|
| Jessica Kovatch | Saint Francis (PA) | |
| Caitlyn Kroll | Saint Francis (PA) | |
| Jocelynne Jones | Robert Morris | |
| Denisha Petty-Evans | LIU Brooklyn | |
| Tykera Carter | Sacred Heart |