It is a single-elimination tournament that in its most recent 2024 edition involved 8 of the 9 then-current league schools, and seeding is based on regular-season records with head-to-head match-up as a tie-breaker.
[1] While the NEC lost two members after the 2023–24 season, with Merrimack and Sacred Heart leaving for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, it gained two members at the same time with the impending addition of Chicago State and Mercyhurst.
[2] Between the 1987 and 1988, when the NEC was still called the ECAC Metro Conference, the tournament was known as the ECAC Metro Conference women's basketball tournament.
The highest seeds face off against the corresponding lowest seeds, with the two remaining teams facing off in the Finals to determine the champion.
The next three schools in this category—Robert Morris (8), Mount St. Mary's, and Sacred Heart (5 each)—left the NEC between 2020 and 2024.