INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --- History was made on Monday afternoon as three conference teams were announced as entries in the Division III Women's Basketball Championship field for the first time in 36 years of ODAC women's basketball. ODAC champion
Washington and Lee University was joined by
Randolph-Macon College and
Shenandoah University as at-large selections on the national stage.
The Division III women's basketball bracket includes 64 teams with 43 qualifying automatically as conference champions like Washington and Lee. The remaining 21 entrants were determined by ranking in NCAA Power Index (NPI). Randolph-Macon slotted 34th in the final table, while Shenandoah ranked 37th. That translated to the 17th and 19th at-large selections, respectively.
All teams in a given sport -- 413 in D-III women's basketball -- earn a NPI rating. Those NPI ratings are ranked sequentially and form a transparent method of selecting teams at-large to Division III brackets, replacing the former process of the sport championship committees selecting teams at-large based on predetermined selection criteria. Once the 43 automatic qualifiers are known, the next 21 best NPI-rated teams formed the list of at-large selected programs to fill out the bracket.
Nationally third-ranked Washington and Lee (28-0) was selected to host first and second round games next weekend on Friday and Saturday. Randolph-Macon (21-7) and Shenandoah (20-7) will travel to start their journeys. The Generals and Hornets are both in the lower-right quadrant of the bracket with the Yellow Jackets situated in the lower-left quadrant. For those that like to make best-case scenario predictions for ODAC teams, that means only two league squads could reach the national semifinals, but both of those potential units could square off for the national title.
Washington and Lee, ranked third in the final NPI behind two-time defending national champion NYU and Wisconsin-Oshkosh, opens play in its Holekamp Gym with St. Mary's College of Maryland on Friday at 8:00 p.m. ET. The Seahawks (23-5) won the United East Conference (UEC) championship. The other first round game in Lexington will feature Gettysburg College and Christopher Newport University at 5:30 p.m. ET. The Bullets (21-6) won the Centennial Conference title, while the Captains (23-4) earned the Coast-to-Coast Conference (C2C) AQ.
Shenandoah makes the trip west to Granville, Ohio, for early round play at Denison University. SU opens with Trine University on Friday at 5:00 p.m. ET the host Big Red meets Southern Virginia University at 7:30 p.m. ET. The Thunder (22-5) earned at-large selection after falling to Hope College in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) final. DU (24-2) is an at-large squad after losing to John Carroll University in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) championship. The Knights (21-7) won the USA South Athletic Conference (USAS) trophy.
Randolph-Macon heads north to Pennsylvania for early round action at the University of Scranton. The Yellow Jackets meet Otterbein University at 6:00 p.m. ET, while the host Royals take on Framingham State University at 8:30 p.m. ET. The Cardinals (22-5) won the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) championship, while Scranton (27-0) secured the Landmark Conference title. The Rams (17-10) won the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) plaque.
The 16 winners from the opening-round pods will compete in four more four-team units in the sectional rounds on Friday and Saturday, March 13-14. The four teams that advance from that weekend travel to ODAC country for the national semifinal games on Thursday, March 19, and ultimately the national championship game on Saturday, March 21. The ODAC in conjunction with Roanoke College and the City of Salem serve as hosts of the final three games in Division III women's basketball season in Roanoke's Cregger Center for the third time overall and second straight season.