INDIANAPOLIS – Despite a pair of convincing road victories last week, the third-ranked Fort Hays State women’s basketball team moved to No. 2 in the latest set of NCAA Division II Central Region rankings, released Wednesday afternoon (Feb. 27). It is the second of three announcements of regional rankings that will be released before the NCAA Championship bracket is filled in on March 10.
The 25-1 Tigers dropped behind 25-1 Southwestern Oklahoma State, who also collected a pair of wins last week. Both teams have two regular season games remaining before entering the postseason.
The same 10 teams are listed in this week’s rankings as last week’s initial release, with three teams jumping one spot. Minnesota State-Moorhead climbed to No. 3, passing Central Missouri, while Lindenwood passed Pittsburg State for the No. 8 spot.
Fort Hays State is 5-1 against teams listed in the top 10 in the Central Region this week, with another game against Pittsburg State on tap Saturday. SWOSU is 0-1 against the rest of the Central Region top 10.
The champions of the MIAA, GAC and NSIC tournaments will all earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Championship field, with the next five teams in the region also earning an at-large selection. The top team in the region earns the right to host the regional tournament, which will be held March 15-18.
The Tigers return to Gross Memorial Coliseum to wrap up the regular season with two games this week. Fort Hays State will host Missouri Southern on Thursday (Feb. 28) at 5:30 p.m. before the aforementioned season finale against Pittsburg State Saturday (March 2) at 2 p.m.
The complete NCAA Division II Central Region rankings for February 27, 2019 can be found below.
| Rank | School | Overall DII Record | In-Region Record | Last Week |
| 1 | Southwestern Oklahoma State | 25-1 | 25-1 | 2 |
| 2 | Fort Hays State | 22-1 | 22-1 | 1 |
| 3 | Minnesota State-Moorhead | 23-5 | 21-5 | 4 |
| 4 | Central Missouri | 20-5 | 18-4 | 3 |
| 5 | Minnesota Duluth | 19-6 | 19-6 | 5 |
| 6 | Emporia State | 18-6 | 18-6 | 6 |
| 7 | Concordia-St. Paul | 19-6 | 19-6 | 7 |
| 8 | Lindenwood (Missouri) | 19-5 | 19-5 | 9 |
| 9 | Pittsburg State | 17-6 | 16-6 | 8 |
| 10 | Washburn | 17-8 | 15-8 | 10 |