Complete Bracket
NEW ORLEANS - The Sun Belt Conference announced Saturday the full bracket for the 2019 Sun Belt Women's Basketball Championship, presented by First Bank and Trust, which will take place from March 11-16 – both on-campus and at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans.
This year's tournament features a new bracket setup with two opening round games played on campus with the No. 7 seed hosting the No. 10 seed and the No. 8 seed hosting the No. 9 seed. The No. 1 seed and No. 2 seed will receive byes to the semifinals and the No. 3 seed and No. 4 seed receive byes to the quarterfinals. The No. 5 seed and No. 6 seed will receive first round byes.
First round games will be played on Monday, March 11, with the winners of those games advancing to New Orleans' Lakefront Arena for the remainder of the tournament. Second round games will be played on Wednesday, March 13, with the quarterfinals set for Thursday, March 14. Friday, March 15, will see the top two seeds in action in the semifinals with the Championship set for Saturday, March 16, at 11:00 a.m. CT.
Little Rock (19-10, 15-3 Sun Belt) is the No. 1 seed for this year’s tournament after securing a share of the Sun Belt Championship on Saturday with its 57-38 win over ULM. The Trojans have won four Sun Belt regular season titles (2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019), six division titles (2008-13) and four Sun Belt tournament championships (2011, 2012, 2015 and 2018).
Little Rock's quest for its fifth overall and second consecutive tournament title will begin on Friday at 11:30 a.m. CT, against the winner from Thursday's first quarterfinal.
UTA (23-6, 15-3) is the No. 2 seed, earning a share of the Sun Belt Championship with its 44-41 win over Texas State. UTA will look for its first Sun Belt tournament title when they take to the court on Friday at 2:00 p.m. CT.
The Trojans and Lady Mavs finished the regular season tied in the conference standings. Little Rock earned the top seed over the Lady Mavs based on Little Rock’s sweep of UTA during the regular season.
Troy (22-7, 13-5) earned the No. 3 seed for the tournament. The Trojans have won two of the last three Sun Belt tournament titles. Troy will take on the winner of Wednesday's second round matchup between sixth-seeded Texas State and either No. 7 South Alabama or No. 10 Louisiana on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. CT.
Rounding out the top four seeds in this year’s Sun Belt Tournament is Georgia State (17-12, 11-7), which claimed the last of the tournament’s double-byes into the quarterfinal round. The Panthers will open on Thursday against the winner of Wednesday's second round matchup between fifth-seeded Appalachian State and either No. 8 Coastal Carolina or No. 9 Arkansas State on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. CT.
No. 8 Coastal Carolina (16-13, 8-10) will host No. 9 Arkansas State (12-17, 7-11) on Monday, March 11, in the first round of the tournament. The game will be played at Coastal’s HTC Center in Conway, S.C. at 6:00 p.m. CT.
No. 7 South Alabama (20-9, 9-9) will host No. 10 Louisiana (7-22, 5-13) at 7:00 p.m. CT, also on Monday.
Action in the Sun Belt tournament moves to Lakefront Arena in New Orleans on Wednesday, March 13, when fifth-seeded Appalachian State (16-13, 10-8) will take to the court to face the winner of the Red Wolves and Chanticleers at 11:30 a.m. CT. Sixth-seeded Texas State (14-16, 9-9) will follow when the Bobcats take on the winner of the Jaguars and Ragin’ Cajuns at 2:00 p.m. CT.
All games of this year’s Sun Belt tournament will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and the WatchESPN app, with the Championship game airing on ESPN3.
For more information on this year's tournament, visit the Sun Belt Women’s Basketball Championship Central page at https://sunbelt.me/SunBeltWBBChamp.
2019 Sun Belt Women's Basketball Championship Schedule
Monday, March 11 (First Round/Campus Sites)
G1: No. 9 Arkansas State at No. 8 Coastal Carolina, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
G2: No. 10 Louisiana at No. 7 South Alabama, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Wednesday, March 13 (Second Round)
G3: No. 5 Appalachian State vs. Winner G1, 11:30 a.m. (ESPN+)
G4: No. 6 Texas State vs. Winner G2, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Thursday, March 14 (Semifinals)
G5: No. 4 Georgia State vs. Winner G3, 11:30 a.m. (ESPN+)
G6: No. 3 Troy vs. Winner G4, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Friday, March 15 (Semifinals)
G7: No. 1 Little Rock vs. Winner G5, 11:30 a.m. (ESPN+)
G8: No. 2 UTA vs. Winner G6, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, March 16 (Championship Game)
G9: Winner G7 vs. Winner G8, 11:00 a.m. (ESPN3)
All times are Central time and subject to change.
2019 Tournament Seeds and Sun Belt Records
1. Little Rock (15-3) *
2. UTA (15-3)
3. Troy (13-5)
4. Georgia State (11-7)
5. Appalachian State (10-8)
6. Texas State (9-9) **
7. South Alabama (9-9)
8. Coastal Carolina (8-10)
9. Arkansas State (7-11)
10. Louisiana (5-13)
* Little Rock and UTA finished with identical 15-3 league records. Little Rock defeated UTA in both games this season; therefore, Little Rock earned the No. 1 seed.
** South Alabama and Texas State finished with identical 9-9 league records. Texas State defeated South Alabama in the teams’ only matchup this season; therefore, Texas State earned the No. 6 seed.