MEAC WOMEN'S BRACKET

NORFOLK, Va., —The South Carolina State women's basketball team earned the No. 9 seed in the 2018 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament, held March 5-10 at the Scope Arena in Norfolk, Va.
 
The Lady Bulldogs closed out the regular season with an 11-17 overall, 6-10 MEAC record. SC State will take on the No.8 seed North Carolina Central Tuesday (March. 6^th) at 11 a.m., with the winner taking on N.C. A&T in the quarterfinals.
 
The two teams met on February 24^th, with NC Central defeating SC State 63-81 in Orangeburg, SC.
 
Meanwhile, North Carolina A&T State earned the top seed after concluding the regular season with a 15-1 mark in MEAC play and owning the tiebreaker over Bethune-Cookman.
 
Bethune-Cookman also went 15-1 in MEAC play, but fell to the Aggies on Feb. 26 and will be the No. 2 seed. Bethune-Cookman and North Carolina A&T State will be regular-season co-champions. Both the Aggies and Lady Wildcats earn first-round byes, and North Carolina A&T State will play in the quarterfinal round on Wednesday, March 7 at 12 p.m. 
 
Games will start on Monday, March 5 with the No. 4 Norfolk State/No. 13 Savannah State matchup at 11 a.m. and the No. 5 Howard/No. 12 Florida A&M contest to follow roughly 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. Monday's third game will pit the No. 6 seed, Morgan State, and the No. 11 seed, Coppin State.
 
Bethune-Cookman will face the winner of the No. 7 Maryland Eastern Shore/No. 10 Delaware State contest in the quarterfinal round on Wednesday at approximately 2 p.m.
 
Defending tournament champion Hampton earned the No. 3 seed, and the final first-round bye, for the second straight season with a 12-4 mark in MEAC play. The Lady Pirates will face the winner of the Morgan State-Coppin State match-up on Thursday, March 8 at 12 p.m.
 
The 2017-18 regular-season champions, first team honorees and award winners including Player, Rookie, Defensive Player and Coach of the Year, will be recognized in pre-game presentations prior to the honorees' first games in tournament play.
 
The 2018 MEAC Basketball Tournament tips off Monday, March 5, and will conclude on Saturday, March 10 with the men's and women's championship games. The women's game will begin one hour after the end of the men's game and will be rebroadcast on ESPNU. It will air the following day, Sunday, March 11, at 11 a.m.
 
The men's finale will begin at 1 p.m. and will broadcast live on ESPN2. The preliminary games will also be streamed live on ESPN3. Live statistics of all games will be available on the conference's official website and the tournament's official website, www.MEAChoops.com.
 
For tournament information, log on to www.MEAChoops.com.   For the latest on MEAC sports, visit www.MEACsports.com.