INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – No. 6 Gustavus women’s basketball (26-1, 17-1 MIAC) hosts a four-team regional, the first two rounds of the NCAA Division III Tournament, this Friday and Saturday, March 7-8, at Gus Young Court.
The Division III national 64-team field was announced Monday.
Gustavus faces Wisconsin-Lutheran at 7:30 p.m. Friday, with the other first round match-up featuring Wartburg (Iowa) and UW-Stevens Point at 5 p.m. Friday's winners play at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Saint Peter for the chance to advance to the Sweet 16.
Wartburg (25-2, 16-0 A-R-C), seeded second in the regional, defeated Coe (Iowa) 61-55 in the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) playoff championship game to earn its conference’s automatic bid to the tourney. UW-Stevens Point (18-8, 8-6 WIAC) received one of 21 at-large bids after falling to UW-La Crosse in the first round of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) tournament, 71-67. Wisconsin-Lutheran (21-7, 15-1 NACC) reached the national tournament via the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) automatic bid, defeating St. Norbert 57-54.
Wartburg ended the 2024-25 regular season No. 17 in the NCAA’s final National Power Index (NPI), followed by Stevens Point (No. 43), and Wisconsin-Lutheran (No. 69). The Gusties finished at No. 7 as the highest ranked team in Region IX.
The national postseason appearance is the 11th and fourth consecutive for the Gusties, who earned the conference’s automatic bid with a 66-53 win over then-No. 24 Bethel March 1 for the MIAC Playoff Championship. The meeting between the Gusties and Warriors will be the first between the two programs.
The Royals (22-5, 17-1 MIAC) earned one of the NCAA’s 21 at-large berths and will play DePauw (Ind.) in the first round, hosted by No. 10 UW-Oshkosh, March 7 in Oshkosh, Wis.
