UNK Athletics
Peter Yazvac, Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations
KEARNEY – The Nebraska-Kearney women’s basketball team is ranked fifth in the first edition of the NCAA region rankings.
The rankings determine the 64-team NCAA Division II Tournament field in March. The field is made up of eight teams from Division II’s eight regions with the top seed in each hosting March 13, 14 and 16. (Friday, Saturday & Monday).
The Central Region consists of schools from the MIAA, GAC (Great American Conference) and NSIC (Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference). The three conference tournament winners receive automatic bids to the NCAA’s so there are five at-large bids available in the Central.
This is UNK’s first appearance in these rankings since February 14, 2018 when they were sixth. The Lopers are aiming to earn its first NCAA bid since the 2008-09 season. Overall the Blue & Gold is 6-13 in its NCAA history.
UNK (18-3 in D2 games; at the moment the NCAA missing the win over P.R.-Mayaguez) has key wins over No. 4 Emporia State, No. 8 Fort Hays State (two) and No. 10 Central Oklahoma. Kearney heads to UCO next Saturday to close out the regular season; they face Northeastern State and Rogers State this weekend at home.
| Rank | In-Region Record | Overall D2 Record | |
| 1. | Central Missouri | 18-4 | 21-4 |
| 2 | Minnesota-Duluth | 21-5 | 21-5 |
| 3 | Sioux Falls | 23-4 | 23-4 |
| 4 | Emporia State | 16-5 | 16-5 |
| 5 | UNK | 17-3 | 18-3 |
| 6 | St. Cloud State | 18-5 | 17-5 |
| 7 | SE Oklahoma State | 15-6 | 15-6 |
| 8 | Fort Hays State | 15-6 | 14-6 |
| 9 | SW Oklahoma State | 17-7 | 17-7 |
| 10 | Central Oklahoma | 17-7 | 17-7 |