Women's Basketball

Indianapolis, Ind. – Four East Coast Conference women's basketball teams have been ranked in the first NCAA Division II Women's Basketball East Region poll released on Wednesday afternoon.

University of the District of Columbia is the highest rated ECC squad, coming in at No. 4. The Firebirds are on an 11 game winning streak to move their record to 22-3 (15-2 ECC) on the year. UDC, the defending conference champions, is looking to earn their third NCAA Tournament bid in the four seasons since they joined the ECC.

Next up at No. 6 is NYIT. The Bears currently boast a 16-8 (11-5 ECC) record after falling to Queens last night. NYIT would make it two NCAA Tournament appearances in three years were they to make it again this season.

At No. 9 is the aforementioned Queens College. The Knights moved into sole possession of second place with their win over NYIT and now have a 17-6 (12-4 ECC) mark on the season. Queens has the longest NCAA Tournament drought of any of the four ECC squads listed in the poll, not having made an appearance in the 64 team bracket since 2009.

LIU Post rounds out the ECC representation in the rankings, coming in at No. 10. The Pioneers were East Region runner-up to eventual National Champion, Bentley University, in 2014 and have made the NCAA Tournament four years in a row. This year's version of the Pioneers has a record of 15-9 (11-5 ECC).

The Northeast 10 Conference tied with the ECC for the most teams in the poll with four. NE10 schools occupy the first three spots in the poll however. The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference has two teams in the poll.

The regional rankings will be released weekly on Wednesdays through March 4. 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.