The regular season and conference tournaments are in the books, and with that, Princeton is the No. 1 ranked team in the Women’s Other Top 25.
The Tigers are 26-3 and won their last seven games to cut down the nets at Ivy Madness. They are the highest seeded mid-major in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 9 seed. Carla Berube has led Princeton to the Big Dance for a fifth straight year, which is the longest streak in Ivy League history.
Rhode Island, which swept the Atlantic 10 regular season and tournament
championships, came in No. 2 in the Other Top 25. Tammi Reiss has the Rams dancing for the first time since 1996 and for just the second time ever. They are an 11-seed and open against Alabama.
Third in the Other Top 25 this week is South Dakota St. The Jackrabbits claimed their fourth straight Summit League title earlier this month. They have advanced past the first round of the NCAA Tournament five times in their 13 previous appearances. Aaron Johnston and crew are an 11 and face Washington in round one.
Fairfield came in at No. 4 and is also an 11-seed. The Stags completed a three-peat in the MAAC and are in March Madness for the fourth time in five years. Carly Thibault-Dudonis’ team leads Division I in 3-point shooting by knocking down 11.4 triples a game. They’ll meet Notre Dame in the first round.
Richmond rounded out the top five. The Spiders are an at-large team in the NCAA Tournament for a second consecutive season. They are the only mid-major at-large team in the field. Despite falling to George Mason in the A10 semis, they are dancing for the third straight year. That equals as many bids as the program had in its history prior to this stretch.
North Dakota State was sixth. The Bison, who won the regular-season championship in the Summit League, is a No. 1 seed in the WBIT and hosts Chattanooga in the first round.
George Mason came in at No. 7. The Patriots went all the way to the A10 title game before coming up short against URI. The Pats will host Quinnipiac to open the WBIT.
Here is the full ranking:
Dropped from ranking:
Louisiana Tech – 17; Santa Clara – 19; Georgia Southern – 24
