SWOSU finishes season ranked No. 20 in WBCA national poll

SWOSU Sports
Doug Self, Sports Information Director

LILBURN, Ga. – After awarding the NCAA Division II National Championship to Central Missouri on Friday night, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) released the final poll for the 2017-18 season on Saturday with the SWOSU Lady Bulldogs ending the year ranked 20th.

The ranking concludes a year of firsts for the Lady Bulldogs, who initially entered the rankings for the first time as an NCAA Division II institution on Nov. 28 and remained ranked in 14 consecutive polls to finish up the year. SWOSU reached as high as No. 7 in the WBCA Top 25 poll on February 13th and they spent four weeks ranked in the Top 10.

The Lady Bulldogs used a 15-game winning streak – the longest at SWOSU in the NCAA Division II era – to achieve their highest ranking and finish the season 26-5, setting a new single-season program high for wins as an NCAA institution. Led by GAC Coach of the Year Kelsi Musick, SWOSU claimed the 2017-18 GAC regular season championship, advanced to the semifinals of the GAC Tournament and qualified for the NCAA Division II Central Region Championships for the third time in the past six seasons, where they fell to Fort Hays State 78-75 in the regional quarterfinals.

SWOSU loses two seniors from the 2017-18 team to graduation, but they are slated to return all five starters from this season, led by Hailey Tucker – the Central Region Player of the Year and All-America selection – and All-GAC honorees Hayden Priddy and Tyra Aska.

Women’s Basketball Coaches Association
Final Ranking – March 24, 2018