# 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.

## Changes from last season

Merrimack College joined the Northeast Conference from Division II Northeast-10 Conference. 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, will maintain LIU Brooklyn's existing memberships in Division I and the NEC.

## 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 |
| 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
| 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 | Denia Davis-Stewart, MER | Alex Cowan, WAG |
| November 18, 2019 | Emilija Kirsta Grava, WAG | Nicole Gallagher, BRY |
| November 25, 2019 | Nevena Dimitrijevic, SFBK | Nevena Dimitrijevic, SFBK |
| December 2, 2019 | Nneka Ezeigbo, RMU | Aryna Taylor, MSM |
| December 9, 2019 | Kendall Bresee, MSM | Nevena Dimitrijevic (2), SFBK |
| December 16, 2019 | Denia Davis-Stewart (2), MER | Nevena Dimitrijevic (3), SFBK |
| December 23, 2019 | Lauren Francillon, FDU | Maria Roters, FDU |
| December 30, 2019 | Denia Davis-Stewart (3), MER | Alana Fursman, MER |
| January 6, 2020 | Nneka Ezeigbo (2), RMU | Sonia Smith, SHU |
| January 15, 2020 | Denia Davis-Stewart (4), MER | Nevena Dimitrijevic (4), SFBK |
| January 22, 2020 | Isabella Posset, RMU | Maria Roters (2), FDU |
| January 29, 2020 | Brandy Thomas, LIU Emilija Krista Grava (2), WAG | Katie Dettwiller, SFU |
| February 5, 2020 | Brandy Thomas (2), LIU | Aniya Bell FDU Jayme Decesare MER |
| February 12, 2020 | Irekpitan Ozzy-Momodu, RMU | Nevena Dimitrijevic (5), SFBK |
| February 19, 2020 | Nneka Ezeigbo (3), RMU | Sonia Smith (2), SHU |
| February 25, 2020 | Denia Davis-Stewart (5), MER | Nevena Dimitrijevic (6), SFBK |
| March 4, 2020 | 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.
| 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 |
| All-NEC First Team | Denia Davis-Stewart, MER |
| All-NEC First Team | Emilija Krista Grava , WAG |
| All-NEC First Team | Michaela Harrison, MSM |
| All-NEC First Team | Brandy Thomas, LIU |
| All-NEC Second Team | Nevena Dimitrijevic, SFBK |
| All-NEC Second Team | Lauren Francillon, FDU |
| All-NEC Second Team | Adrianne Hagood , SHU |
| All-NEC Second Team | Sydney Holloway , BRY |
| All-NEC Second Team | Irekpitan Ozzy-Momodu, RMU |
| All-NEC Third Team | Ally Lassen, SFBK |
| All-NEC Third Team | Kendall Bresee, MSM |
| All-NEC Third Team | Kate Mager, MER |
| All-NEC Third Team | Isabella Posset, RMU |
| All-NEC Third Team | Karson Swogger , SFPA |
| All-NEC Rookie Team | Nevena Dimitrijevic, SFBK |
| All-NEC Rookie Team | Jayme Decesare, MER |
| All-NEC Rookie Team | Nicole Gallagher, BRY |
| All-NEC Rookie Team | Maria Roters , FDU |
| All-NEC Rookie Team | 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 | Quarterfinals Monday, March 9 NEC Front Row | Quarterfinals Monday, March 9 NEC Front Row | | | Semifinals Thursday, March 12 ESPN3 | Semifinals Thursday, March 12 ESPN3 | Semifinals Thursday, March 12 ESPN3 |
| 1 | Robert Morris | | | | | | |
| 8 | Wagner | | | | | | |
| 2 | Mount St. Mary's | | | | | | |
| 7 | LIU | | | | | | |
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) |
| 3 | Fairleigh Dickinson | | | | | | |
| 6 | Bryant | | | | | | |
| 4 | Saint Francis (PA) | | | | | | |
| 5 | Sacred Heart | | | | | | |

### NCAA tournament

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