Cleveland, OH — The 2026 NCAA women's basketball brackets were officially set Monday afternoon as the State University of New York New Paltz national title run starts in the confines of DeCarlo Center on the campus of John Carroll University Friday.
 
SUNY New Paltz will make its ninth appearance into the national tournament and first since the 2023-24 season after earning an automatic bid following a championship title-winning performance Saturday in the Hawk Center. The Hawks (25-2 overall, 17-1 conference) took down reigning champion SUNY Cortland with a 56-52 victory to capture the program's eighth championship to officially punch their ticket into the big dance.
 
No. 10 nationally ranked John Caroll will play host to SUNY New Paltz, TCNJ and Immaculata. It is the first time the Blue Streak are hosting a women's basketball NCAA championship weekend, but not the first time the school has played host to the Hawks as SUNY New Paltz was sent to John Carroll in 2024 following men's basketball's automatic bid after a SUNYAC title victory that season.
 
The first-round matchups include SUNY New Paltz versus Immaculata at 5:30 p.m. and John Caroll versus TCNJ at 8 p.m. Friday night with the winners set to play in the second round at 8 p.m. Saturday in the DeCarlo Center.  
The Hawks will face the Mighty Macs for the first time in program history. Like SUNY New Paltz, Immaculata (24-3, 14-0) won its conference tournament to earn an automatic bid into nationals after defeating Marywood in the Atlantic East Championship Saturday.  
 
The Mighty Mac are on a 14-game winning streak with their only losses coming against Arcadia and Salisbury in late November and Haverford Jan. 3 — all non-conference opponents. Immaculata makes its second-straight NCAA appearance after conquering the Atlantic East last season as well. It eventually fell to Ohio Wesleyan in the first round, 87-42.  
 
On the year, the Mighty Macs have averaged about 74 points per game, allowing 57 against while shooting 42 percent from the floor to just 35 percent for their opponents. They have a rebounding margin of 5.9, totaling 44 per game, along with a turnover margin of 3.1, forcing nearly 19 a contest. They're led by 5'10 sophomore forward Carly Coleman who has tallied 18 double-doubles on the year, averaging 17.2 points and 10.9 rebounds per game. She's followed offensively by 5'10 freshman guard Abby Grillo and 5'9 senior combo guard Olivia Ettorre who both total nearly 10 points per game.
 
On the other side of the bracket are the nationally ranked Blue Streaks who are 13-2 at home this season and will make their fifth NCAA Tournament appearance, the first since 2022. They earned an at-large bid after falling in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament Saturday to DePauw, 64-59.
 
John Caroll takes on a hot Lions team who despite their modest overall record (17-10, 14-4) went on and rolled to a 78-55 NJAC Championship victory over William Patterson Saturday to earn an automatic bid and will make their 14th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the first, however, since the 2017-18 season.
 
To view the full NCAA Tournament bracket, click here.
 

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