INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – With the completion of the 2016-17 season, the Emory & Henry College Women's Basketball Team finds itself among the top teams in the NCAA Division III South Region. While the NCAA chose to not publish the final rankings of the year when it released the bracket for the national tournament, the Wasps were the No. 9 team in the third ranking of the year (Wed., Feb. 22).
E&H, which reached the semifinals of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament for the third year in a row, was one of three ODAC schools to appear in the final public rankings of the season. League champion Guilford College was third while runner-up Lynchburg College was fourth.
Emory & Henry posted a 19-8 overall record this season with a 12-4 mark in conference play. The last time the Wasps reached the final four of the conference postseason for three straight years was from 2000-02.
In addition to Guilford, automatic qualifiers for the 2017 NCAA Division III Tournament from the South Region include the University of Texas-Dallas, Hendrix College, Trinity (Texas) University and Piedmont College. There was only one at-large bid from the South Region this year, which went to Lynchburg.
Two Emory & Henry non-conference opponents also made the tournament this year. Babson College won the New England Men's & Women's Athletic Conference to earn an automatic bid. The University of Mary Washington picked up an at-large bid after reaching the title game of the Capital Athletic Conference Tournament. The Wasps faced both of these programs in December, taking on the Babson Beavers at the Daytona Beach Shootout.
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NCAA Division III Women's Basketball
South Region Rankings
1. Trinity (Texas)
2. Texas-Dallas
3. Guilford *
4. Lynchburg *
5. Maryville (Tenn.)
6. Texas Lutheran
7. Piedmont
8. Austin
9. Emory & Henry *
Public rankings as of Feb. 22, 2017
* denotes Old Dominion Athletic Conference school