The NCAA released the second set of 2023 NCAA Division II women's basketball regional rankings on Wednesday (Feb. 22) afternoon, and No. 1-ranked Ashland University is sitting atop the Midwest Region.
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Ashland is 27-0 overall and 19-0 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, and is the only undefeated women's basketball team in Division II. The Eagles will conclude the 2022-23 regular season on Thursday (Feb. 22) at 5:30 p.m. at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium vs. Malone (19-7, 13-5). Thursday's game will be a student section White Out, and Ohio Health rally towels will be given out.
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The first set of regional rankings were released in alphabetical order on Feb. 15. Regional rankings also will be released on March 1, and will be released in rank order. The NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament selection show will be March 5 at 10:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.
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Ashland's women's basketball program has qualified for the NCAA Tournament 12 times (2004, 2006, 2012-13, 2015-22), and the Eagles' all-time NCAA postseason record is 29-9 (.763). Ashland won national championships in 2013 and 2017, and was national runner-up in 2012 and 2018.
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A 64-team tournament (eight teams in each of eight regions), the D-II postseason will begin on March 10, and Ashland's conference and NCAA postseason road looks like this:
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- The eight-team 2023 Great Midwest Tournament will be Feb. 28 (at home) and March 3-4 (at home with win on Feb. 28).
- The eight-team 2023 NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Tournament will be March 10-11 and 13 at a site to be determined.
- The 2023 NCAA Division II Elite Eight and Final Four will be March 20 and 22, respectively, in St. Joseph, Mo.
- The 2023 NCAA Division II Championship Game will be April 1 in Dallas, Texas.
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In the Midwest Region, automatic qualifiers come from the winners of the Great Midwest, Great Lakes Valley Conference and Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The other five teams are chosen as at-large entries. There are 36 teams in the Midwest Region – 13 teams each in the Great Midwest and GLVC, and 10 in the GLIAC.
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2023 NCAA DIVISION II MIDWEST REGION WOMEN'S BASKETBALL RANKINGS (FIRST RANKINGS WERE ALPHABETICAL – UC = UNDER CONSIDERATION)
| TEAM |
SECOND RANKING |
FIRST RANKING |
| ASHLAND |
1 |
UC |
| Drury |
2 |
UC |
| Grand Valley State |
3 |
UC |
| Michigan Tech |
4 |
UC |
| Kentucky Wesleyan |
5 |
UC |
| Trevecca Nazarene |
6 |
UC |
| Lewis |
7 |
UC |
| Malone |
8 |
UC |
| Truman State |
9 |
UC |
| Parkside |
10 |
UC |
