INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --- For the second straight year, nationally 11th-ranked Washington and Lee University will carry the league colors in the Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship bracket, as announced by the NCAA on Monday morning.

The Division III women's lacrosse bracket includes 47 teams with 31 qualifying automatically as conference champions like Washington and Lee. The remaining 16 entrants were determined by ranking in the NCAA Power Index (NPI) once all games went final on Sunday evening. The Generals own the 12th-best NPI rating in the country.

All teams in a given sport -- 276 in D-III women's lacrosse -- 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 31 automatic qualifiers were known, the next 16 best NPI-rated teams formed the list of at-large selected programs to fill out the bracket.

Washington and Lee (15-4) is situated in the upper-right quadrant of the Division III bracket. The Generals will host one of 15 three-team pods covering first and second round action. There is one two-team showdown to complete the odd-numbered bracket allotment.

WLU received a bye into the second round on Sunday, May 10. On the preceding day. Christopher Newport University and Meredith College will begin their tournament experiences in Lexington with a 1:00 p.m. ET start on Watt Field. The Captains (13-6) are an at-large pick out of the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C), while the Avenging Angels (17-4) won the USA South Athletic Conference (USAS) title. The winner of their Saturday clash will meet the Generals at 1:00 p.m. ET on Sunday.

Play in the first two rounds begins on Saturday and Sunday, May 9-10. The sectional and quarterfinal rounds are slated for Saturday and Sunday, May 16-17. The four remaining teams make their way north to Rochester, N.Y. for the semifinal and championship games at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). Play is set for Friday, May 22 and Sunday, May 24 at Judson Stadium.