The Augustana women's basketball team has been selected to participate in the NCAA Divison II Women's Basketball Central Regional Tournament, the NCAA announced Sunday.
It is the 11th NCAA tournament appearance for the Vikings under head coach
Dave Krauth and is the team's fourth appearance in the last five seasons.
The Vikings (23-6) earned the No. 4 seed in the 8-team tournament field and will face No. 5 seed Minnesota Duluth in the first round on Friday. The tournament will be held on March 12, 13 and 15 in Durango, Colo. Game times for the tournament will be announced Monday.
Augustana is one of four NSIC teams in the field. Joining Augustana and Minnesota Duluth are Concordia-St. Paul and Wayne State, which gained the league's automatic bid by winning the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament. Also making the field from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference are Fort Lewis, Adams State, Colorado School of Mines and RMAC Shootout champion Colorado State-Pueblo.
The first round matchup will be the third meeting between the Vikings and Bulldogs. Augustana lost to Minnesota Duluth 81-63 in Duluth on January 3. Augustana won the second meeting, claiming an 80-69 win in Sioux Falls on the final day of the regular season, February 27.
The winner of the Central Regional Tournament will advance to the Elite 8 in St. Joseph, Mo., which runs March 23, 24, and 26.
NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Central Regional Seeds
1. Fort Lewis (30-3)
2. Wayne State (26-4)
3. Concordia-St. Paul (24-5)
4. Augustana (23-6)
5. Minnesota Duluth (20-10)
6. Adams State (21-7)
7. Colorado State-Pueblo (20-10)
8. Colorado School of Mines (18-8)
NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Central Regional Pairings
#8 Colorado School of Mines vs. #1 Fort Lewis
#5 Minnesota Duluth vs. #4 Augustana
#6 Adams State vs. #3 Concordia-St. Paul
#7 Colorado State-Pueblo vs. #2 Wayne State
