LILBURN, Ga. – The Southwest Minnesota State University women's basketball team is ranked No. 18 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Top 25 preseason poll released on Tuesday afternoon.
 
SMSU, which finished a season best No. 15 in the final 2024-25 poll, was ranked in the WBCA Top 25 poll 12 times last season.
 
SMSU won a school record 28 games and finished second in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference with a 19-3 league mark a season ago. SMSU, which returns 10 letter winners and three starters from last season's team, advanced to the NCAA tournament for the third team in team history and first since 2002. The Mustangs won their first two NCAA tournament games before losing in the region championship game to Pittsburg State (Kan.) to close with a 28-5 overall record.
 
SMSU head coach Tom Webb enters his 10^th season and has a record of 124-119. Webb improved the program's win total in each of his first four seasons, he has led SMSU to a .500 record or better the last six seasons.
 
SMSU begins the 2025-26 season with a pair of games on Nov. 7-8 at the Division II CCA Tip-Off Classic in Denton, Texas, against Alabama-Huntsville and Tampa (Fla.).
 
The Mustangs then head to Edmond, Okla., and will compete in the NSIC-MIAA Challenge against Central Oklahoma and Washburn (Kan.) on Nov. 14-15. Following the NSIC opener at Sioux Falls on Nov. 25, SMSU will make its home debut on Nov. 30 in a non-conference meeting against Northern State.