INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA announced that the Northwestern Oklahoma State women's basketball team is one of the 10 teams in the Central Region under consideration for the 2026 NCAA Division II Basketball Championship.

In recent years, the NCAA released its first set of region rankings in alphabetical order before announcing the teams in rank order in two subsequent releases. Final selections for the field of eight teams will be announced on Sunday, March 8, with five at-large teams joining the champions from the GAC, MIAA, and NSIC. The regional tournament will run March 13-16 at the top overall seed with the regional champion moving on to Pittsburgh, Pa. March 24-28 for the DII Elite Eight.

The Lady Rangers are one of three schools from the GAC under consideration, with Arkansas Tech and Harding also in the mix. The NSIC leads the way with four teams under consideration, while the MIAA has three.

The Lady Rangers will be back in action on February 19, when they take on Southern Arkansas University inside Percefull Fieldhouse at 5:30 p.m.

2026 NCAA DII Central Region Rankings - Records Through February 15
Team - Overall DII Record - In-Region Record
Arkansas Tech - 17-4 - 17-4
Central Missouri - 17-5 - 15-5
Concordia-St. Paul - 19-6 - 19-6
Fort Hays State - 22-2 - 21-2
Harding - 21-3 - 20-3
Mary - 19-8 - 17-8
Minnesota Duluth - 17-7 - 17-7
Minnesota State - 25-0 - 21-0
Northwestern Oklahoma State - 13-8 - 13-8
Washburn - 17-7 - 16-6
*teams listed in alphabetical order*

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