Women’s basketball enters regional No. 4 in nation

BY FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION

Fort Hays State Women’s Basketball elevated to No. 4 in both the WBCA and D2SIDA Top 25 Polls released on Tuesday (Mar. 8). The Tigers moved up one spot in the WBCA poll and two spots in the D2SIDA Poll. FHSU is 28-3 overall on the season and holds the No. 1 seed in the Central Regional of the NCAA Tournament.

Fort Hays State began the year as the No. 4 ranked team in the WBCA Top 25 Poll and will enter the postseason with that ranking as well. FHSU played six games this season with a No. 4 WBCA ranking and won all six. The Tigers have been inside the Top 10 of the WBCA poll the entire season, and for a while held the No. 1 ranking for a couple weeks that spanned late November and early December.

The Tigers are 16-1 all-time when ranked No. 4 in the WBCA poll and 139-34 overall when playing as a ranked team during the DII era.

Union (Tenn.) will enter the NCAA Tournament as the nation’s top ranked team, followed by Ashland (Ohio), Glenville State (W.Va.), and Fort Hays State. All four are No. 1 seeds in their respective regions of the NCAA Tournament.

Fort Hays State remains the lone MIAA program in both top 25 polls, while Missouri Southern is the top receiving votes team in the WBCA poll and ranked No. 23 in the D2SIDA poll. Three other schools participating in the Central Regional of the NCAA Tournament hold a top 25 ranking in the WBCA poll, which includes No. 10 Southwestern Oklahoma State, No. 12 Minnesota Duluth, and No. 16 St. Cloud State. All eight teams participating in the regional have 21 or more wins.

Fort Hays State will play Minnesota State (21-6) in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at 5 pm. The winner of that contest will move on to meet either Missouri Southern or No. 16 St. Cloud State in the regional semifinals on Saturday. FHSU is 1-1 against Missouri Southern and 1-0 against St. Cloud State this season.

Below are the final regular season polls for the 2021-22 season.

WBCA Top 25 Poll – March 8, 2022

Rank School (Record) Record Pts Prev.
1 Union 26-2 526 3
2 Ashland 28-2 513 4
3 Glenville State 29-1 482 1
4 Fort Hays State 28-3 469 5
5 Drury 31-4 437 8
6 Grand Valley State 27-2 426 2
7 North Georgia 25-3 412 9
8 Barton 27-2 410 7
9 Azusa Pacific 24-3 337 13
10 Southwestern Oklahoma St. 29-4 315 16
11 Lander 22-4 288 6
12 Minnesota Duluth 24-4 266 23
13 Texas A&M-Commerce 26-4 263 10
14 Tampa 29-5 250 18
15 Cal State East Bay 22-2 247 24
16 St. Cloud State 23-4 208 11
17 Savannah State 27-2 202 12
18 Walsh 26-4 177 15
19 Lubbock Christian 26-6 152 14
20 Cal State San Marcos 22-3 107 19
21 Eckerd 20-4 86 17
22 Colorado School of Mines 25-4 66 20
23 West Texas A&M 23-10 53 NR
24 Valdosta State 23-5 51 21
25 Western Washington 20-5 45 22


Receiving Votes: Missouri Southern State (24-6) 39; University of the Sciences (23-4) 38; Southern New Hampshire (21-6) 34; Lee, TN (24-7) 22; Central Washington (23-7) 20; Benedict (23-7) 19; Carson-Newman (26-5) 16; Daemen (20-4) 16; Southern Indiana (23-5) 16; Florida Southern (20-9) 15; Lincoln, PA (22-7) 15; Missouri-St. Louis (23-5) 15; Catawba (23-6) 10; Wingate (24-5) 6; California, PA (24-5) 4; Gannon (24-6) 4.

D2SIDA Top 25 Poll – March 8, 2022

Rank School (First-Place Votes) W-L Pts. Prev.
1 Union (Tenn.) (7) 26-2 383 3
2 Ashland (6) 28-2 377 5
3 Glenville State (1) 29-1 345 2
4 Fort Hays State 28-3 334 6
5 North Georgia 25-3 324 7
6 Grand Valley State 27-2 322 1
7 Texas A&M-Commerce (2) 26-4 312 4
8 Barton 28-1 281 9
9 Lubbock Christian 26-6 241 10
T10 Cal State-East Bay 22-2 240 22
T10 Drury 31-4 240 12
12 Minnesota-Duluth 24-4 231 15
13 Tampa 29-5 203 16
14 Lander 22-4 200 13
15 Walsh 26-5 135 20
16 Central Washington 23-7 132 NR
17 Southwestern Oklahoma St. 29-4 127 RV
18 Southern New Hampshire 21-6 121 19
19 West Texas A&M 23-10 94 RV
20 Gannon 24-6 90 NR
21 Cal State-San Marcos 22-3 81 11
22 Carson-Newman 26-5 55 NR
23 Missouri Southern 24-6 48 RV
24 Western Washington 20-5 44 14
25 Southern Indiana 23-5 39 RV

Receiving Votes: Bentley 34, California (Pa.) 33, St. Cloud State 29, Florida Southern 19, Azusa Pacific 14, Wingate 11, Texas Woman’s 10, Metropolitan State 8, Kutztown 8, Lee 6, University of the Sciences 6, Lincoln (Pa.) 4,
Colorado State-Pueblo 3, Le Moyne 3, Missouri-St. Louis 3, Valdosta State 1

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