# 2016 Southland Conference women's basketball tournament

The 2016 Southland Conference women's basketball tournament, a part of the 2015–16 NCAA Division I women's basketball season, took place March 10–13, 2016 at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas. The winner of the tournament received the Southland Conference's automatic bid to the 2016 NCAA tournament.

## Seeds and regular season standings

Only the Top 8 teams advanced to the Southland Conference tournament. If a team ineligible for the NCAA Tourney finished in the top 8, their seed fell to the next eligible team. Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word were ineligible for post-season play as they were in the third year of a 4-year transition from D2 to D1. They wouldn't be eligible for the Southland tourney until 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.
2015 Southland Conference women's basketball tournament seeds :
| Seed | School | Conference record | Overall record (end of regular season) | Tiebreaker |
| 1. | Abilene Christian ‡* | 17–1 | 26–3 | D1 transitioning, ineligible for NCAA Tourney |
| 2. | Central Arkansas * | 16–2 | 26–3 | |
| 3. | Northwestern State # | 13–5 | 19–10 | |
| 4. | Stephen F. Austin # | 12–6 | 18–12 | |
| 5. | McNeese State | 11–7 | 19–11 | |
| 6. | Houston Baptist | 9–9 | 14–14 | |
| 7. | Nicholls State | 8–10 | 10–18 | |
| 8. | Sam Houston State | 7–11 | 16–12 | 2–0 vs. Lamar |
| 9. | Lamar | 7–11 | 11–18 | 0–2 vs. Sam Houston State |
| 10. | Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | 6–12 | 9–20 | |
| 11. | New Orleans | 5–13 | 8–19 | |
| 12. | Incarnate Word | 3–15 | 6–23 | 1–0 vs. Southeast Louisiana, D1 transitioning, ineligible for NCAA Tourney |
| 13. | Southeast Louisiana | 3–15 | 4–25 | 0–1 vs. Incarnate Word |
| ‡ – 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

| Session | Game | Time* | Matchup$^#$ | Television |
| First round – Thursday, March 10 |||||
| 1 | 1 | 11:00 am | #5 Houston Baptist vs. #8 Lamar | SLC Digital |
| 1 | 2 | 1:30 pm | #6 Nicholls State vs. #7 Sam Houston State | SLC Digital |
| Quarterfinals – Friday, March 11 |||||
| 2 | 3 | 11:00 am | #4 McNeese State vs. #8 Lamar | SLC Digital |
| 2 | 4 | 1:30 pm | #3 Stephen F. Austin vs. #7 Sam Houston State | SLC Digital |
| Semifinals – Saturday, March 12 |||||
| 3 | 5 | 1:00 pm | #1 Central Arkansas vs. #4 McNeese State | ESPN3 |
| 3 | 6 | 3:30 pm | #2 Northwestern State vs. #7 Sam Houston State | ESPN3 |
| Championship – Sunday, March 13 |||||
| 4 | 7 | 11:30 am | #1 Central Arkansas vs #7 Sam Houston State | CBSSN |
| *Game times in CST. #-Rankings denote tournament seeding. |||||

## Bracket

| First round Thursday, March 10 SLC Digital | First round Thursday, March 10 SLC Digital | First round Thursday, March 10 SLC Digital | Quarterfinals Friday, March 12 SLC Digital | Quarterfinals Friday, March 12 SLC Digital | Quarterfinals Friday, March 12 SLC Digital | Semifinals Saturday, March 13 ESPN3 | Semifinals Saturday, March 13 ESPN3 | Semifinals Saturday, March 13 ESPN3 | Championship Game Sunday, March 14 CBSSN | Championship Game Sunday, March 14 CBSSN | Championship Game Sunday, March 14 CBSSN |
| | | | | | | 1 | Central Arkansas | 72 | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | McNeese State | 64 | | | |
| | | | 4 | McNeese State | 88 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Houston Baptist | 95 | 8 | Lamar | 78 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Lamar | 98$^{2OT}$ | | | | | | | 1 | Central Arkansas | 69 |
| | | | | | | | | | 7 | Sam Houston State | 62 |
| | | | | | | 2 | Northwestern State | 71 | | | |
| | | | | | | 7 | Sam Houston State | 78 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Stephen F. Austin | 70 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Sam Houston State | 73 | 7 | Sam Houston State | 78 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Nicholls State | 64 | | | | | | | | | |