# 2017 Southland Conference women's basketball tournament

The 2017 Southland Conference women's basketball tournament, a part of the 2016–17 NCAA Division I women's basketball season, took place March 9–12, 2017 at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas. The winner of the tournament, the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears, received the Southland Conference's automatic bid to the 2017 NCAA tournament.

## Seeds and regular season standings

Only the Top 8 teams advanced to the Southland Conference tournament. The co-regular season champion Abilene Christian Wildcats were ineligible for the NCAA Tourney. Their seed fell to the next eligible team. Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word were ineligible for post-season play as they were in the final year of a 4-year transition from D2 to D1. They will be eligible for the Southland tourney in 2018. This chart shows all the teams records and standings and explains why teams advanced to the conference tourney or finished in certain tiebreaking positions.
2017 Southland Conference women's basketball tournament seeds :
| Seed | School | Conference record | Overall record (end of regular season) | Tiebreaker |
| 1. | Central Arkansas | 16-2 | 24–4 | |
| 2. | Lamar | 15-3 | 22-6 | |
| 3. | Stephen F. Austin | 14–4 | 23–6 | |
| 4. | New Orleans | 9-9 | 14-14 | |
| 5. | Texas A&M-CC | 8-10 | 12-17 | 1-0 vs. McNeese State |
| 6. | McNeese State | 8-10 | 13–16 | 0-1 vs. TXAMCC |
| 7. | Northwestern State | 7-11 | 13-16 | 2-0 vs. Nicholls State/Incarnate Word |
| 8. | Nicholls State | 7-11 | 10-19 | Incarnate Word still in-eligible |
| ‡ – Southland Conference regular season champions. * – Received a first-round and second-round bye in the conference tournament. # – Received a first-round bye in the conference tournament. Overall record are as of the end of the regular season. ||||||

## Schedule

Source:
| Session | Game | Time* | Matchup$^#$ | Television |
| First round – Thursday, March 9 |||||
| 1 | 1 | 11:00 am | #5 Texas A&M-CC vs. #8 Nicholls State | ESPN3 |
| 1 | 2 | 1:30 pm | #6 McNeese State vs. #7 Northwestern State | ESPN3 |
| Quarterfinals – Friday, March 10 |||||
| 2 | 3 | 11:00 am | #4 New Orleans vs. #5 Texas A&M-CC | ESPN3 |
| 2 | 4 | 1:30 pm | #3 Stephen F. Austin vs. #6 McNeese State | ESPN3 |
| Semifinals – Saturday, March 11 |||||
| 3 | 5 | 1:00 pm | #1 Central Arkansas vs. #5 Texas A&M CC | ESPN3 |
| 3 | 6 | 3:30 pm | #2 Lamar vs. #3 SFA | ESPN3 |
| Championship – Sunday, March 12 |||||
| 4 | 7 | 12:00 pm | #1 Central Arkansas vs. #3 SFA | CBSSN |
| *Game times in CST. #-Rankings denote tournament seeding. |||||

## Bracket

| First round Thursday, March 9 ESPN3 | First round Thursday, March 9 ESPN3 | First round Thursday, March 9 ESPN3 | Quarterfinals Friday, March 10 ESPN3 | Quarterfinals Friday, March 10 ESPN3 | Quarterfinals Friday, March 10 ESPN3 | Semifinals Saturday, March 11 ESPN3 | Semifinals Saturday, March 11 ESPN3 | Semifinals Saturday, March 11 ESPN3 | Championship Game Sunday, March 12 CBSSN | Championship Game Sunday, March 12 CBSSN | Championship Game Sunday, March 12 CBSSN |
| | | | | | | 1 | Central Arkansas | 62 | | | |
| | | | | | | 5 | Texas A&M CC | 44 | | | |
| | | | 4 | New Orleans | 77 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Texas A&M-CC | 57 | 5 | Texas A&M-CC | 88 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Northwestern State | 46 | | | | | | | 1 | Central Arkansas | 60 |
| | | | | | | | | | 3 | Stephen F. Austin | 35 |
| | | | | | | 2 | Lamar | 48 | | | |
| | | | | | | 3 | Stephen F. Austin | 62 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Stephen F. Austin | 77 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Nicholls | 58 | 6 | McNeese State | 63 | | | | | | |
| 6 | McNeese State | 79 | | | | | | | | | |

### First round

* ESPN3
* March 9 11:00 am
Northwestern State 46, Texas A&M-CC 57 :
| Scoring by half: 20–16, 26–41 |||
| Pts: C. Brown; B. Attura: 16 Rebs: S. Abboud: 5 Asts: 3 players: 2 | Pts: D. Booth: 14 Rebs: C. Davis: 11 Asts: B. Mbamalu; C. Davis: 4 |
* Merrell Center Katy, TX Referees: Robert Strong, Marlin Ramsey, Chaney Muench
* ESPN3
* March 9 1:30 pm
Nicholls 58, McNeese State 79 :
| Scoring by half: 21–37, 35–44 |||
| Pts: C. Barrios: 17 Rebs: E. White; T. Morrison: 5 Asts: T. Morrison: 2 | Pts: F. Haywood: 14 Rebs: F. Haywood: 19 Asts: F. Haywood; C. Davis: 3 |
* Merrell Center Katy, TX Attendance: 604 Referees: Travis Jones, Darren McClure, Jennifer White

### Quarterfinals

* ESPN3
* March 10 11:00 am
Texas A&M-CC 88, New Orleans 77 :
| Scoring by half: 42–46, 28–49 |||
| Pts: K. Jones: 26 Rebs: C. Davis: 11 Asts: Three Players: 2 | Pts: R. Brown: 21 Rebs: S. Woods: 8 Asts: D. Wright: 5 |
* Merrell Center Katy, TX Referees: Travis Jones, Kelly Johnson, Darren McClure
* ESPN3
* March 10 1:30 pm
McNeese State 63, Stephen F. Austin 77 :
| Scoring by half: 20–43, 41–36 |||
| Pts: V. Rachal: 23 Rebs: F. Haywood: 15 Asts: Three Players: 3 | Pts: T. Ross: 24 Rebs: S. Parker: 14 Asts: T. Ross: 4 |
* Merrell Center Katy, TX Attendance: 966 Referees: Eric Koch, Chaney Muench, Britton Sherry

### Semifinals

* ESPN3
* March 11 1:00 pm
Texas A&M-CC 44, Central Arkansas 62 :
| Scoring by half: 20–24, 29–33 |||
| Pts: K. Jones: 13 Rebs: U. Jolivette; B. Mbamalu: 5 Asts: Six Players: 1 | Pts: M. Proffitt: 21 Rebs: T. Baudoin: 13 Asts: B. Mullins: 6 |
* Merrell Center Katy, TX Referees: Travis Jones, D'Lynn Schertz, Darren McClure
* ESPN3
* March 11 3:30 pm
Stephen F. Austin 62, Lamar 48 :
| Scoring by half: 30–32, 26–22 |||
| Pts: T. Ross: 20 Rebs: S. Parker: 13 Asts: T. Ross: 3 | Pts: Four Players: 8 Rebs: K. Bowers: 13 Asts: C. Barrs; A. Miles: 3 |
* Merrell Center Katy, TX Attendance: 1,413 Referees: John Fletcher, Britton Sherry, Shandra Twine

### Championship

* CBSSN
* March 12 12:00 pm
Stephen F. Austin 35, Central Arkansas 60 :
| Scoring by half: 20–15, 27–33 |||
| Pts: S. Parker: 11 Rebs: S. Parker: 8 Asts: S. Parker: 2 | Pts: M. Proffitt: 21 Rebs: K. Jordan: 13 Asts: B. Mullins: 3 |
* Merrell Center Katy, TX Attendance: 1,073 Referees: Eric Koch, Chaney Muench, Darren McClure

## Awards and honors

Source: Tournament MVP: Maggie Proffitt, Central Arkansas
All-Tournament Team:
   * Maggie Proffitt, Central Arkansas
   * Stevi Parker, Stephen F. Austin
   * Taylor Baudoin, Central Arkansas
   * Taylor Ross, Stephen F. Austin
   * Kassie Jones, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi