Ashland Women Under Consideration In First Midwest Regional Rankings

In the first set of 2026 NCAA Division II women's basketball regional rankings, released on Wednesday (Feb. 18) afternoon, Ashland University is under consideration for what would be a 16^th all-time playoff appearance.
 
The Eagles are 14-9 overall and 10-7 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference with three regular-season games to go, and will travel to Malone (19-5, 12-4) on Thursday (Feb. 19) at 5:30 p.m. – one win away from clinching a spot in a conference tournament for the 19^th consecutive year.
 
Regional rankings also will be released on Feb. 25 and March 4, and will be released in rank order. The NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament selection show will be March 8 at 10:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.
 
Ashland's women's basketball program has qualified for the NCAA Tournament 15 previous times (2004, 2006, 2012-13, 2015-25), and the Eagles' all-time NCAA postseason record is 38-11 (.776). AU won national championships in 2013, 2017 and 2023, and was national runner-up in 2012 and 2018.
 
A 64-team tournament (eight teams in each of eight regions), the D-II postseason will begin on March 13, and Ashland's conference and NCAA postseason road looks like this:

• The eight-team 2026 Great Midwest Tournament will be March 3 and 7-8 (site(s) to be determined).
• The eight-team 2026 NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Tournament will be March 13-14 and 16 (site to be determined).
• The 2026 NCAA Division II Elite Eight, Final Four and national championship game will be in Pittsburgh, Pa., on March 24, 26 and 28, respectively.

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 38 teams in the Midwest Region eligible for postseason play – 15 from the GLVC, 13 from the Great Midwest, and 10 from the GLIAC.
  ASHLAND
Ferris State
Grand Valley State
Malone
Michigan Tech
Missouri-St. Louis
Northern Michigan
Northwood
Thomas More
Wayne State