INDIANAPOLIS – The Southwest Minnesota State University women's basketball team is listed in the first NCAA Division II Central Region rankings released Wednesday afternoon by the NCAA national committee.
 
The rankings include records through Sunday and are placed alphabetically for the first release. The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC), the Great American Conference (GAC), and the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) make up the 41-team Central Region.  

SMSU is one of four NSIC schools in the region rankings along with Concordia-St. Paul, Minnesota State, and Northern State. The MIAA has four teams listed in Fort Hays State, Missouri Western State, Nebraska Kearney and Pittsburg State, while the GAC has two teams ranked in Harding and Southern Nazarene.  

The Mustangs are 24-2 overall and are tied for first place in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference standings with an 18-2 record. Only games versus Division II opponents are counted for the NCAA region rankings.

Region rankings will also be released on Feb. 26 and March 5. 

The top eight teams in the region will advance to the NCAA Central Region Tournament from March 14-15, 17. Automatic bids are granted to the winners of the MIAA, GAC and NSIC postseason tournaments, with the remaining five spots awarded on an at-large basis. 

The NCAA women's basketball selection show will be streamed online on Sunday, March 9, at 9:30 p.m. (CT) on NCAA.com.

The NCAA National Championships will take place from March 24-28 at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh, Pa.  
 
SMSU, currently on a 16-game winning streak, will look to secure at least a share of the NSIC regular season championship with two road games this weekend. The Mustangs play at UMary on Friday at 7:30 p.m. before concluding the regular season on Saturday with a 6 p.m. match-up at Northern State.