Women's Basketball

Indianapolis, Ind. – The NCAA released its first Division II women’s basketball regional rankings on Wednesday afternoon and four East Coast Conference institutions were included among the ten schools in the rankings. The schools that earned rankings are Dowling, New York Institute of Technology, LIU Post, and Bridgeport.

Dowling is first up in the poll at No. 3. The Golden Lions are currently in first place in the ECC with a 14-1 mark and 20-3 overall record. The 2012 ECC Champions, who are currently ranked No. 15 in the nation in the latest USA Today Sports Top 25 coaches’ poll, are looking to make it to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year.

NYIT is next at No. 4. The Bears have put together the best season in the program’s history, topping the 20 win mark for the first time ever. Also ranked in the Top 25 at No. 17, the Bears have wrapped up a top two seed in the upcoming ECC Championship with a 22-2 (14-2 ECC) record.

LIU Post is next at No. 8. The Pioneers, currently 17-7 on the 2012-13 campaign, are trying to make it to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive year.

The last ECC squad in the rankings is the University of Bridgeport at No. 10. At 15-8, the Purple Knights were the final team listed in the poll.

The East Coast Conference has the second most schools in the poll behind the Northeast 10 Conference, who had five. The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference had one member in the poll.

The regional rankings will be released weekly on Wednesdays through March 6. The top eight teams (three conference tournament champions and five at-large berths) in the poll after the conference championships will earn bids to the Division II Women's Basketball Tournament.

To view the full poll click here.