EDITOR’S NOTE: Much of the information in this story was originally published by the Ashland Univeresity Sports Information Department.
ASHLAND — The road to a potential fourth NCAA Division II national championship for Ashland University’s women’s basketball team will start in Michigan.
As announced by the NCAA on Sunday (March 10) night, the No. 1-ranked Eagles (30-1) will play in the Midwest Regional tournament at Grand Valley State, starting on Friday (March 15).
Last year the Eagles hosted the Midwest Regional. This year, despite being the reigning national champions, earning the No. 1 ranking, and owning a 30-1 record, Grand Valley State was picked as the home site after earning the No. 1 seed.
Second-seeded AU heads into the NCAA playoffs with a 22-game winning streak, wins in 67 of the last 68 games, and 70 straight victories when leading at half.
Winner of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference regular season and tournament each for the third consecutive year, Ashland will play a regional quarterfinal game on Friday vs. No. 23-ranked and No. 7 seed Drury (25-6).
The three other quarterfinals are No. 1 seed Grand Valley State (29-2) vs. No. 8 seed Trevecca Nazarene (19-11), No. 4 seed Northern Michigan (21-9) vs. No. 5 seed Kentucky Wesleyan (21-6), and No. 3 seed Ferris State (22-5) vs. No. 6 seed Lewis (23-8).
Ferris State is a dangerous team for anyone. The Bulldogs are the only Division II team in the country to beat both Ashland and Grand Valley State this year. In fact, Grand Valley is the only loss for the Eagles. GVSU also lost to Ohio State earlier this year.
The regional semifinals will be on Saturday (March 16), and the regional championship game will be Monday (March 18). Game times and ticket information will be released at a later time.
Ashland’s women’s basketball program has qualified for the NCAA Tournament 14 times (2004, 2006, 2012-13, 2015-24), won national championships in 2013, 2017 and 2023, and was national runner-up in 2012 and 2018.
The Eagles’ all-time NCAA postseason record is 35-9 (.795), and they boast the highest all-time D-II women’s basketball postseason winning percentage, minimum 40 games.
Over the last 13 seasons, the Eagles have gone 389-40 (.907) with three NCAA Division II national titles, two national runner-up finishes, three undefeated seasons, a D-II-record 73-game winning streak, a D-II-record 39-game road winning streak (current), eight 30-win seasons, 12 NCAA postseason qualifications, nine conference regular-season championships, 10 conference tournament titles, and a mark of 210-14 (.938) at home.
Should Ashland be selected as the No. 1 team in the country in the final pre-tournament Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) coaches poll on Tuesday (March 12), it will mark the fourth time (2017-18, 2023-24) the Eagles will go into the NCAA postseason as the top-ranked team in the country.
In the Midwest Region, automatic qualifiers come from the winners of the Great Midwest, Great Lakes Valley Conference and Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
The other five teams are chosen as at-large entries. There are 37 teams in the Midwest Region eligible for postseason play – 14 from the GLVC, 13 from the Great Midwest, and 10 from the GLIAC.