Tournament season continues to heat up on the hardwood as the NCAA Division II women’s basketball championship tournament field has been announced.
Three HBCU teams will compete for a national championship: SIAC champion Tuskegee Golden Tigers, CIAA champion Elizabeth City State Vikings, and the West Virginia State Yellow Jackets.
West Virginia State will open as a five-seed facing the fourth-seeded Shippensburg in the first round. This will be the Yellow Jackets’ first national tournament appearance since 2004.
This comes on the heels of a season in which the Yellow Jackets finished with a 22-5 overall record and a 17-5 record against the Mountain East Conference.
They suffered a heartbreaking loss in the MEC conference tournament losing in the quarterfinals against Concord thanks to a three-pointer in the final seconds of overtime.
BRACKET ALERT 🚨
The 2023 #D2WBB tournament is going to be a fun one. Who's your pick?! 👀
➡️: https://t.co/DxApNXP8ki
🗞: https://t.co/mPNcTH5A0y pic.twitter.com/xZLTz2qawn— NCAA Division II (@NCAADII) March 6, 2023
Elizabeth City State will be an eight-seed opening up its tournament run against the reigning national champion and number one seed Glenville State.
The Vikings finished the regular season with a 16-10 going on to run the table to claim their first CIAA championship in school history.
Rounding out the field is Tuskegee, who will be an eight-seed facing off against number-one seed Tampa in the first round.
Tuskegee had a dominant season finishing with a 23-3 record in the regular season and a perfect 21-0 record against the SIAC.
The Golden Tigers claimed their second SIAC tournament title in three years. They mowed their way through the field, winning by an average margin of 25.3 points.
