2019–20 Northeast Conference women's basketball season

The 2019–20 NEC women's basketball season will begin with practices in October 2019, followed by the start of the 2019–20 NCAA Division I women's basketball season in November. Conference play will start in January 2020 and concluded in March with the 2020 Northeast Conference women's basketball tournament.

2019–20 Northeast Conference women's basketball season
League	NCAA Division I
Sport	Basketball
Number of teams	11
TV partner(s)	NEC Front Row, ESPN2, MSG, FCS, Regional Sports Networks
WNBA Draft
Regular season
First place	Robert Morris
Season MVP	Denia Davis-Stewart, MER
NEC tournament

2019–20 Northeast Conference women's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Robert Morris	17	–	1		.944			22	–	7		.759
Mount St. Mary's	14	–	4		.778			19	–	11		.633
Merrimack*	13	–	5		.722			20	–	9		.690
Fairleigh Dickinson	9	–	9		.500			12	–	17		.414
Sacred Heart	9	–	9		.500			12	–	17		.414
Saint Francis (PA)	9	–	9		.500			11	–	18		.379
Wagner	7	–	11		.389			11	–	18		.379
Bryant	7	–	11		.389			9	–	20		.310
LIU	7	–	11		.389			8	–	21		.276
St. Francis Brooklyn	4	–	14		.222			8	–	21		.276
Central Connecticut	3	–	15		.167			4	–	25		.138
*Ineligible for NEC championship (reclassification from Division II)
† 2020 NEC tournament winner As of November 16, 2024 Rankings from AP poll

Changes from last season

Merrimack College joined the Northeast Conference from Division II Northeast-10 Conference.^[1] They are not eligible this year for the NEC tournament.

On October 3, 2018 Long Island University announced that it would combine its two existing athletic programs—NEC member LIU Brooklyn and the Division II program at LIU Post—into a single Division I program under the LIU name. The new LIU program, to be nicknamed Sharks,^[2] will maintain LIU Brooklyn's existing memberships in Division I and the NEC.^[3]

Head coaches

Note: Stats shown are before the beginning of the season. All numbers are from time at current school.

Team	Head coach	Previous school	Seasons at school	Overall record
Bryant	Mary Burke	Bryant	29	401–412
Central Connecticut	Beryl Piper	Central Connecticut	12	149–210
Fairleigh Dickinson	Angelika Szumilo	LIU	1	12–17
LIU	Rene Haynes	Duke (assistant)	1	8–22
Merrimack	Kelly Morrone	John Carroll	1	20–9
Mount St. Mary's	Maria Marchesano	IUPUI	2	24–36
Robert Morris	Charlie Buscaglia	Robert Morris	3	69–30
Sacred Heart	Jessica Mannetti	Hofstra	6	98–88
St. Francis Brooklyn	Linda Cimino	Binghamton	2	18–13
Saint Francis (PA)	Keila Whittington	Marist	1	11–19
Wagner	Heather Jacobs	Adelphi	4	20–68

Preseason

Rankings

	NEC Coaches Poll[4]
1.	Robert Morris (10)
2.	Saint Francis (PA)
3.	Mount St. Mary's
	Sacred Heart
5.	Bryant
	St. Francis Brooklyn
7.	Wagner
8.	LIU
9.	Fairleigh Dickinson
10.	Central Connecticut
11.	Merrimack

() first place votes

Preseason All-NEC team

Source^[5]

Recipient	School
Nneka Ezeigbo	Robert Morris
Sydney Holloway	Bryant
Jade Johnson	St. Francis Brooklyn
Brandy Thomas	LIU
Adrianne Hagood	Sacred Heart

NEC regular season

Weekly awards

Throughout the regular season, the Northeast Conference offices named player(s) of the week and rookie(s) of the week.

Week Player of the week Rookie of the week November 11, 2019[6] Denia Davis-Stewart, MER Alex Cowan, WAG November 18, 2019[7] Emilija Kirsta Grava, WAG Nicole Gallagher, BRY November 25, 2019[8] Nevena Dimitrijevic, SFBK Nevena Dimitrijevic, SFBK December 2, 2019[9] Nneka Ezeigbo, RMU Aryna Taylor, MSM December 9, 2019[10] Kendall Bresee, MSM Nevena Dimitrijevic (2), SFBK December 16, 2019[11] Denia Davis-Stewart (2), MER Nevena Dimitrijevic (3), SFBK December 23, 2019[12] Lauren Francillon, FDU Maria Roters, FDU December 30, 2019[13] Denia Davis-Stewart (3), MER Alana Fursman, MER January 6, 2020[14] Nneka Ezeigbo (2), RMU Sonia Smith, SHU January 15, 2020[15] Denia Davis-Stewart (4), MER Nevena Dimitrijevic (4), SFBK January 22, 2020[16] Isabella Posset, RMU Maria Roters (2), FDU January 29, 2020[17] Brandy Thomas, LIU Emilija Krista Grava (2), WAG Katie Dettwiller, SFU February 5, 2020[18] Brandy Thomas (2), LIU Aniya Bell FDU Jayme Decesare MER February 12, 2020[19] Irekpitan Ozzy-Momodu, RMU Nevena Dimitrijevic (5), SFBK February 19, 2020[20] Nneka Ezeigbo (3), RMU Sonia Smith (2), SHU February 25, 2020[21] Denia Davis-Stewart (5), MER Nevena Dimitrijevic (6), SFBK March 4, 2020[22] Denia Davis-Stewart (6), MER Nneka Ezeigbo (4), RMU Nevena Dimitrijevic (7), SFBK

School Player of the week Awards Rookie of the week Awards Bryant 0 1 Central Connecticut 0 0 Fairleigh Dickinson 1 3 LIU 2 0 Merrimack 6 2 Mount St. Mary's 1 1 Robert Morris 6 0 Sacred Heart 0 2 St. Francis Brooklyn 1 7 Saint Francis (PA) 0 1 Wagner 2 1

All-NEC honors and awards

Following the regular season, the conference selected outstanding performers based on a poll of league coaches.^[23]

Honor	Recipient
Player of the Year	Denia Davis-Stewart, MER
Coach of the Year	Charlie Buscaglia, RMU
Defensive Player of the Year	Denia Davis-Stewart, MER
Rookie of the Year	Nevena Dimitrijevic , SFBK
Most Improved Player of the Year	Rachael Niles, FDU
All-NEC First Team	Nneka Ezeigbo, RMU
	Denia Davis-Stewart, MER
	Emilija Krista Grava , WAG
	Michaela Harrison, MSM
	Brandy Thomas, LIU
All-NEC Second Team	Nevena Dimitrijevic, SFBK
	Lauren Francillon, FDU
	Adrianne Hagood , SHU
	Sydney Holloway , BRY
	Irekpitan Ozzy-Momodu, RMU
All-NEC Third Team	Ally Lassen, SFBK
	Kendall Bresee, MSM
	Kate Mager, MER
	Isabella Posset, RMU
	Karson Swogger , SFPA
All-NEC Rookie Team	Nevena Dimitrijevic, SFBK
	Jayme Decesare, MER
	Nicole Gallagher, BRY
	Maria Roters , FDU
	Sonia Smith , SHU

Postseason

NEC tournament

In the NEC tournament the top eight teams from the field of eleven participate. The teams are seeded according to their conference records, and when there are similar records between teams, tie-breakers are applied. After the first round, teams are reseeded after each round, with highest remaining seeds receiving home court advantage.

	Quarterfinals Monday, March 9 NEC Front Row					Semifinals Thursday, March 12 ESPN3					Championship Sunday, March 15 ESPNU
	1	Robert Morris
	8	Wagner
	2	Mount St. Mary's
	7	LIU
	(Pairings are reseeded after the first round)
	3	Fairleigh Dickinson
	6	Bryant
	4	Saint Francis (PA)
	5	Sacred Heart

NCAA tournament

Main article: 2020 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament

Seed	Region	School	First Four	1st round	2nd round	Sweet 16	Elite Eight	Final Four	Championship
		TBD

See also

2019–20 Northeast Conference men's basketball season

References

1. "Northeast Conference - Merrimack College Accepts Invitation to Join Northeast Conference". northeastconference.org. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
2. "Welcome to the Shark Tank: Long Island University Chooses the Shark as New Mascot" (Press release). Long Island University. May 15, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
3. "Long Island University Announces Unification Into One LIU Division I Program" (Press release). LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds. October 3, 2018. Archived from the original on October 12, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
4. "ROBERT MORRIS TABBED UNANIMOUS PRESEASON FAVORITE" (PDF). Northeastconference.org. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
5. "ROBERT MORRIS TABBED UNANIMOUS PRESEASON FAVORITE" (PDF). Northeastconference.org. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
6. "Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Weekly Release (11/11)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
7. "Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Weekly Release (11/18)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
8. "Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Weekly Release (11/25)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
9. "Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Weekly Release (12/2)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
10. "Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Weekly Release (12/9)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
11. "Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Weekly Release (12/16)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
12. "Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Weekly Release (12/23)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
13. "Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Weekly Release (12/30)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
14. "Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Weekly Release (1/6)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
15. "Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Weekly Release (1/15)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
16. "Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Weekly Release (1/22)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
17. "Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Weekly Release (1/29)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
18. "Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Weekly Release (2/5)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
19. "Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Weekly Release (2/12)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
20. "Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Weekly Release (2/19)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
21. "Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Weekly Release (2/25)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
22. "Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Weekly Release (3/4)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
23. "2019-20 NEC Women's Basketball Award Winners" (PDF) (Press release). northeastconference.org. March 9, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2020.

External links

• NEC website