Thomas More women top seed in upcoming PAC Championship Tournament

Thomas More women top seed in upcoming PAC Championship Tournament

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GREENVILLE, Pa. (pacathletics.org) – Thomas More College, the defending NCAA Division III national champion and top-ranked program in the country according to both national polls, will be the number one seed and has earned home court advantage throughout the 2015-16 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Women's Basketball Championship Tournament, which will take place February 22-27.

Fifth-year head coach Jeff Hans has the Saints' program ranked first on the latest USA Today Sports Division III Top 25 Coaches' Poll and D3hoops.com Top 25, respectively, after finishing the regular season 25-0 overall and 18-0 in the PAC.

Thomas More, winners of the last nine PAC Championship Tournament titles, has posted undefeated PAC regular-season schedules in each of the last four seasons and has not dropped a regular-season league game since suffering a 68-65 setback at Saint Vincent College on January 14, 2012, a span of 82 straight. Since joining the PAC in 2005-06 (11 seasons), the Saints have registered a conference regular-season record of 165-7.

The PAC Women's Basketball Championship Tournament featured a new configuration in 2014-15, with the league adopting a double-bye format in which number one seed Thomas More and second-seeded Washington & Jefferson College automatically advance to the semifinal round, which will be hosted by Thomas More at the Connor Convocation Center in Crestview Hills, Kentucky on Friday, February 26.

Tournament play begins Monday with a pair of first round contests. Fifth-seeded Saint Vincent will host eighth-seeded Bethany College in one matchup, while sixth-seeded Chatham University will host seventh-seeded Geneva College in the other first round game. On Wednesday, the Saint Vincent-Bethany winner will play at fourth-seeded Grove City College, while the Chatham-Geneva winner will travel to face third-seeded Waynesburg University in the quarterfinal round. 

The winners of Wednesday's quarterfinal matchups will travel to Thomas More for the semifinal and championship rounds Friday and Saturday. W&J will face off against the 3/6/7 winner in Friday's opener at 6 p.m., followed by Thomas More hosting the 4/5/8 winner in the nightcap at 8 p.m. The championship tournament title game is scheduled for Saturday at 4 p.m.

Admission to all PAC Championship Tournament contests is $5 for adults and $2 for students, with students at PAC host institutions admitted for free with valid ID. Championship tournament programs will be on sale for $1.

The winner of the 2015-16 PAC Women's Basketball Championship Tournament will receive the league's automatic qualifying bid to this year's NCAA Division III Championship Tournament, which gets underway March 4-5.
 
2015-16 PAC Women's Basketball Championship Tournament
First Round
Monday, February 22
7 p.m. No. 8 Bethany at No. 5 Saint Vincent
7 p.m. No. 7 Geneva at No. 6 Chatham
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, February 24
7 p.m. No. 6/No. 7 winner at No. 3 Waynesburg (Quarterfinal 1)
7 p.m. No. 5/No. 8 winner at No. 4 Grove City (Quarterfinal 2)
Semifinals (Thomas More to host Friday's semifinal round and Saturday's championship)
Friday, February 26
6 p.m. Winner of Quarterfinal 1 vs. No. 2 W&J (Semifinal 1)
8 p.m. Winner of Quarterfinal 2 at No. 1 Thomas More (Semifinal 2)
Championship (Thomas More to host Friday's semifinal round and Saturday's championship)
Saturday, February 27
4 p.m. Winner of Semifinal 1 vs. winner of Semifinal 2