WASHINGTON – For the first time in program history, Richmond is the Atlantic 10 Conference Women’s Basketball Regular Season Champions, finishing league play with a 16-2 record. The Spiders will be the No. 1 overall seed in next week’s A-10 Women’s Basketball Championship at the brand-new Henrico Sports & Events Center in Henrico, Va. The 14-team, single-elimination tips off Wednesday, March 6 and will close with the championship final on Sunday, March 10.
 
ESPN+ will stream Wednesday’s first-round games through Friday’s quarterfinals. The A-10 will provide additional programming as part of the quarterfinals from the league’s new studio. CBS Sports Network will air the semifinals Saturday at 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. while the championship final will get underway Sunday at 4:00 p.m. via a national broadcast on ESPN2.
 
The Spiders closed the year with a 26-5 record and a perfect 14-0 record at home. Richmond receives a double-bye into the quarterfinals and will open play Friday, March 8 at 11:00 a.m.
 
VCU will be the No. 2 seed after the Rams set a program record with 26 regular season wins, finishing conference play at 15-3 and winning five straight to end the year. They will begin play on Friday at 5:00 p.m. VCU holds the tiebreaker over Saint Joseph’s after defeating the Hawks 59-48 on February 24. Both SJU and George Mason received the double bye into the quarterfinals as well.
 
Saint Joseph’s is the No. 3 seed after they also set a program record with 26 regular season wins, finishing conference play at 15-3. The Hawks will wrap up the Friday session at 7:30 p.m.
 
George Mason locked down the final double-bye spot as the No. 4 seed as they finished the regular season 23-6 and 14-4 in league play. The Patriots will open play in the second game on Friday at 1:30 p.m.
 
Seeds five through 10 registered byes into the second round and will begin play Thursday. Duquesne (13-5) notched fifth overall and will take on the winner of No. 12 La Salle (5-13) and No. 13 Massachusetts (2-16) at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday in the second round. The Explorers and Minutewomen officially launch the championship with their first-round contest Wednesday at noon on ESPN+.
 
Sixth-seeded Rhode Island (10-8) starts its run Thursday at 7:30 p.m. against the winner of No. 11 Dayton (5-13) and No. 14 St. Bonaventure (1-17). The matchup between the Flyers and Bonnies tips off at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday and will stream nationally via ESPN+.
 
Dayton secured the 11th overall slot over La Salle via a head-to-head tiebreaker, downing the Explorers 72-69 in OT on February 4.
 
Saint Louis (9-9) secured the seven seed and will take on tenth-seeded George Washington (6-12) on Thursday at 5:00 p.m. The winner will face No. 2 VCU in Friday’s quarterfinals matchup.
 
Eighth-seeded Loyola Chicago (9-9) squares off against No. 9 Fordham (9-9) at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday for the right to play top-seeded Richmond in the quarterfinals. Loyola secured the eight seed over Fordham due to defeating them head-to-head on January 24.
 
Due to a significant number of injuries, Davidson has canceled the rest of their season and will not participate in this year’s Atlantic 10 Tournament. The Wildcats, who started the year a program-best 12-1, highlighted by a win at Duke, concluded their campaign 18-8 overall.  The 2024 bracket was altered to accommodate a 14-team tournament.
 
The winner of the Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Championship will receive the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which tips off Wednesday, March 20 with the First Four.