CHARLOTTE, NC – The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) announced the brackets for its 2022 Women's Basketball Tournament. The bracket is seeded 1 through 12 based on the conference winning percentage. Fayetteville State University was seeded no. 5 with a 10-6 conference record and will face no. 12 Livingstone College (3-12 CIAA record) on Tuesday, February 22 at 10:00 am.
 
The single-elimination tournament will be held in Royal Farms Arena from February 22-26. Championship games will tip-off at 1:00 p.m. for the women followed by the men at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 26.
 
This will be the first time the Broncos face the Blue Bears in the CIAA Tournament. Fayetteville State leads the all-time series, 61-21, and defeated Livingstone in both matchups this season 61-40 and 50-45. Head Coach Serena King-Coleman is 9-1 against the Blue Bears while coaching the Broncos.
 
Fayetteville State won the 2020 Tournament before COVID shut down sports until this season. FSU has a total of four CIAA titles and ten championship appearances.
 
Lincoln (PA) solidified the women's Northern Division title and the top seed overall with a win over Virginia State on Saturday, finishing the regular season with a 12-4 conference record.  
 
At 11-5 in conference play, Elizabeth City State receives the no. 2 seed after Saturday's win over Bowie State, who will be the no. 3 seed.  The Bulldogs were seeded ahead of no. 4 seed and Southern Division champion Johnson C. Smith. The Broncos lost to Bowie State and split with the Golden Bulls. JCSU won by six points (70-64) on January 15 while FSU won by four (76-72) on February 5.
 
The conference's tiebreaker for seeding is as follows: head-to-head competition, head-to-head point differential, divisional winning percentage, and a coin toss. The top four seeds will each have a bye in the opening round. 


Shaw comes in at no. 6, and despite identical conference records, Virginia Union is the no. 7 seed after defeating no. 8 seed Winston-Salem State head-to-head earlier this season. No. 9 Saint Augustine's, no. 10 Claflin, no. 11 Virginia State, and no. 12 Livingstone round out the rest of the women's field.  
 
Other women's contests on Tuesday include 12:10 p.m. Claflin vs. Virginia Union, 2:20 p.m. Winston-Salem State vs. Saint Augustine's, and 4:30 p.m. Shaw vs. Virginia State. In the quarterfinals, Lincoln (PA) will await the WSSU/SAU winner for a 4:30 p.m. tipoff on Wednesday while Elizabeth City State will take on the Claflin/VUU winner for their 4:30 p.m. contest. On Thursday, Johnson C. Smith will play the FSU/Livingstone winner at noon while the winner between VSU and Shaw will advance to face Bowie State at 2:00 p.m.
 
All 22 games of the CIAA Tournament will be broadcast exclusively on ESPN+ (https://plus.espn.com/) with the championship games also being shown on ESPNU. Radio coverage of all the games will be provided by Heritage Sports Radio Network (HSRN) and can be found HERE. 
 
For the latest information on the 2022 CIAA Men's & Women's Basketball Tournament, visit ciaatournament.org or download the CIAA mobile app via the Apple Store or Google Play. You can also follow the CIAA on Twitter (@CIAAforLife), Instagram (@CIAASports), and Facebook (The CIAA), or search #CIAATourney, #CreatingNewLegacies, or #CIAAHoops on all platforms.


The women's bracket can be seen by clicking HERE.