Championship Central

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - UConn earned the American regular season title and secured the No. 1 seed in the 2018 Aaron’s American Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Championship, to be held March 3-6 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. All 12 teams will compete for the championship title and the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
The tournament field is based on regular-season league records with the top four seeds earning first-round byes.
 
No. 1 UConn (29-0, 16-0 American) won its fifth-consecutive regular-season title and will open tournament play at 6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 4 versus the winner of No. 9 Tulane and No. 8 Memphis.
 
No. 2 USF (24-6, 13-3 American) opens tournament play at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 4, taking on the winner of Saturday’s matchup between No. 7 ECU and No. 10 SMU.
 
No. 3 UCF (20-9, 12-4 American) earned its highest championship seed yet with a road win at Houston on Feb. 24. The Knights will meet the winner of No. 11 Temple and No. 6 Wichita State on Sunday, March 4 at Noon ET.
 
No. 4 Cincinnati (18-11, 10-6 American) closed out the No. 4 seed with a close win over Houston in the final regular season contest. The Bearcats will face the winner of No. 5 Houston and No. 12 Tulsa on Sunday, March 4 at 8:30 p.m. ET.
 
No. 5 Houston (20-10, 9-7 American) claimed the fifth seed following a loss to Cincinnati on Monday and the season-sweep of Wichita State. The Cougars will face No. 12 Tulsa in Saturday, March 3’s 8 p.m. ET first-round game.
 
No. 6 Wichita State (14-16, 9-7 American) earned the sixth spot at the conference championship after defeating Tulsa on Monday. The Shockers will tip off the tournament on Saturday, March 3 at Noon ET against No. 11 Temple.
 
No. 7 ECU (15-14, 7-9 American) will face No. 10 SMU in the first round of the conference championship on Saturday, March 3 at 2 p.m. ET.
 
No. 8 Memphis (10-19, 5-11 American) takes on No. 9 Tulane in the first round of the conference championship Saturday, March 3 at 6 p.m. ET. The Tigers defeated Temple in overtime in their final regular season contest on Monday.
 
No. 9 Tulane (13-16, 5-11 American) battles No. 8 Memphis in the first round of the conference championship. Game time is slated for 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 3. Tulane locked up the No. 9 seed with a win over SMU on Monday.
 
No. 10 SMU (10-19, 4-12 American) is the 10th seed after dropping a decision to Tulane on Monday. The Mustangs will take on seventh-seeded ECU on Saturday, March 3 at 2 p.m. ET.
 
No. 11 Temple (11-18, 3-13 American) will meet No. 6 Wichita State in the tournament’s first game on Saturday, March 3, beginning at Noon ET.
 
No. 12 Tulsa (9-20, 3-13 American) opens tournament play on Saturday, March 3 at 8 p.m. ET as the 12^th seed. The Golden Hurricane will face off with fifth-seeded Houston in the first round.
 
  
Tickets are available for purchase at the Mohegan Sun Box Office daily between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. and will be available through the ticket offices of all 12 American Athletic Conference institutions. Tickets can also be purchased online through Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster customers may log on to Ticketmaster.com or call Ticketmaster’s national toll free Charge By Phone number 1-800-745-3000.
 
Ticket packages, which include admission to all four days of competition – a total of 11 games – remain available for $99 each, nearly one-third of the face value of individual session tickets. Information on discounts for groups of 10 or more people is available through the Connecticut Sun Group Sales Department at (860) 862-4000.
 
Fans can watch the entire tournament on the ESPN family of networks.
 
For more information on the Aaron’s American Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Championship, please visit Championship Central at www.theamerican.org/wbb.
 
2018 Aaron’s American Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Championship
March 3-6, 2018
Mohegan Sun Arena • Uncasville, Conn.
 
First Round – Saturday, March 3
No. 6 Wichita State vs. No. 11 Temple                      Noon ET (ESPN3)
No. 7 ECU vs. No. 10 SMU                                       2 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
No. 8 Memphis vs. No. 9 Tulane                               6 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
No. 5 Houston vs. No. 12 Tulsa                                 8 p.m. ET (ESPN3)                                                                                                   
Quarterfinals – Sunday, March 4
6/11 winner vs. No. 3 UCF                                        Noon ET (ESPN3)
7/10 winner vs. No. 2 USF                                        2:30 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
8/9 winner vs. No. 1 UConn                                      6:30 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
5/12 winner vs. No. 4 Cincinnati                               8:30 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
 
Semifinals – Monday, March 5
Saturday afternoon winners                                     4:30 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
Saturday evening winners                                       7 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
 
Final – Tuesday, March 6
Semifinal winners                                                    5 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
 
 
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