2016 Big Sky Conference women's basketball tournament

The 2016 Big Sky Conference women's basketball tournament was a tournament from March 7–12, 2016. This was the first year in which all Big Sky members competed in the conference tournament. All 12 teams met at the Reno Events Center for the right to advance to the 2016 NCAA tournament. The arena seats roughly 5,000. Idaho defeated Idaho State to win their 2nd Big Sky tournament title for the first time since 1985 before returning to the Big Sky in 2014 and earn an automatic trip to the NCAA women's tournament.

2016 Big Sky Conference women's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	2015–16
Teams	12
Site	Reno Events Center Reno, NV
Champions	Idaho (2nd title)
Winning coach	Jon Newlee (1st title)
MVP	Mikayla Ferenz (Idaho)
Attendance	9,578
Television	Watch Big Sky
Big Sky Conference women's basketball tournaments

2015–16 Big Sky women's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Montana State	14	–	4		.778			21	–	10		.677
Idaho †	13	–	5		.722			24	–	10		.706
Eastern Washington	13	–	5		.722			20	–	12		.625
North Dakota	13	–	5		.722			19	–	14		.576
Montana	12	–	6		.667			20	–	11		.645
Weber State	11	–	7		.611			23	–	12		.657
Sacramento State	10	–	8		.556			14	–	17		.452
Idaho State	8	–	10		.444			18	–	15		.545
Northern Colorado	8	–	10		.444			13	–	16		.448
Northern Arizona	2	–	16		.111			6	–	24		.200
Southern Utah	2	–	16		.111			5	–	25		.167
Portland State	2	–	16		.111			4	–	26		.133
† 2016 Big Sky tournament winner As of March 26, 2016 Rankings from AP poll

Format

Commissioner Doug Fullerton will announce the tournament format and dates later this year.

Seeds

Big Sky Tiebreaker procedures are as follows:

1. Head-to-head
2. Performance against conference teams in descending order to finish
3. Higher RPI
4. Coin Flip

Seed	School	Conference	Overall*	Tiebreaker
1	Montana State	14–4	21–8
2	Eastern Washington	13–5	21–9	3–1 vs. IDAHO, UND
3	Idaho	13–5	21–9	2–2 vs. EWU, UND
4	North Dakota	13–5	17–12	1–3 vs. EWU, IDAHO
5	Montana	12–6	19–10
6	Weber State	11–7	19–10
7	Sacramento State	10–8	13–16
8	Northern Colorado	8–10	15–14	2–0 vs. ISU
9	Idaho State	8–10	15–14	0–2 vs. UNC
10	Southern Utah	2–16	5–25	2–1 vs. NAU, PSU
11	Portland State	2–16	4–25	1–1 vs. NAU, SUU
12	Northern Arizona	2–16	6–13	1–2 vs. SUU, PSU

* Overall record at end of regular season.

Schedule

Session	Game	Time*	Matchup#	Television	Attendance
First Round – Monday, March 7
1	1	12:05 PM	#8 Northern Colorado vs. #9 Idaho State	Watch Big Sky	277
	2	2:35 PM	#5 Montana vs. #12 Northern Arizona
2	3	5:35 PM	#7 Sacramento State vs. #10 Southern Utah		1,274
	4	8:05 PM	#6 Weber State vs. #11 Portland State
Quarterfinals – Wednesday, March 9
3	5	12:05 PM	#1 Montana State vs. #9 Idaho State	Watch Big Sky	1,104
	6	2:35 PM	#4 North Dakota vs. #5 Montana		1,263
4	7	5:35 PM	#2 Eastern Washington vs. #7 Sacramento State		1,320
	8	8:05 PM	#3 Idaho vs. #6 Weber State		1,343
Semifinals – Friday, March 11
5	9	12:05 PM	#9 Idaho State vs. #4 North Dakota	Watch Big Sky	1,080
	10	2:35 PM	#2 Eastern Washington vs. #3 Idaho		827
Championship Game – Saturday, March 12
6	11	12:05 PM	#9 Idaho State vs. #3 Idaho	Watch Big Sky	1,090
*Game Times in PT.

Bracket

	First round Monday, March 7 Watch Big Sky					Quarterfinals Wednesday, March 9 Watch Big Sky					Semifinals Friday, March 11 Watch Big Sky					Championship Saturday, March 12 Watch Big Sky
						1	Montana State	50
						9	Idaho State	52
	8	Northern Colorado	45
	9	Idaho State	54
											9	Idaho State	69
											4	North Dakota	54
						4	North Dakota	65
						5	Montana	62
	5	Montana	78
	12	Northern Arizona	63
																9	Idaho State	55
																3	Idaho	67
						2	Eastern Washington	100
						7	Sacramento State	97
	7	Sacramento State	102
	10	Southern Utah	89
											2	Eastern Washington	71
											3	Idaho	86
						3	Idaho	86OT
						6	Weber State	83
	6	Weber State	91
	11	Portland State	68

See also

• 2016 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament