INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Valdosta State women's basketball team remained fifth in the third and final public NCAA Division II Women's Basketball South Region rankings, released by the NCAA national office.
 
The NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Selection Show, which will unveil the 64 teams who will compete for the national championship, is scheduled to air Sunday, Mar. 5 at 10:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.
 
Click here or to the link to the right of this story for the complete NCAA Region Rankings.
 
Tampa headlines the region rankings, followed by Eckerd and Union is third.  Lee sits fourth this week, followed by the Lady Blazers to round out the top five.  Tuskegee moved to sixth this week, while Nova Southeastern fell to seventh and Lynn remained eighth.  On the outside looking in, West Florida remained ninth and Savannah State held steady at tenth.  The Gulf South Conference has four teams in the top ten of the rankings, while the Sunshine State Conference features four institutions and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) has two selections.  Each of the conference tournament champions in the GSC, SSC and SIAC will earn an "automatic berth" into the NCAA South Regional.  
 
The top eight teams in the region will qualify for the NCAA South Region Championship when the selections are made public on Mar. 5.  The No. 1-ranked team in the region most likely will host the NCAA South Regional Mar. 10-13, with the winner advancing to the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Elite Eight and National Semifinal rounds in St. Joseph, Mo., on the campus of Missouri Western University.  The NCAA Division II National Championship Game will be Apr. 1, 2023, at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, in conjunction with the Division I Women's Final Four.
 
The defending South Region champion Lady Blazers are looking for their 15^th appearance in the NCAA postseason as the team won the regional at Union University last year as the No. 7-seed.  VSU lost in heartbreaking fashion in the NCAA National Quarterfinal to eventual national runner-up Western Washington, 58-55, in Birmingham, Ala.  VSU is 17-14 all-time in the NCAA postseason with a third-place finish in 1984.  
 
The Lady Blazers, who are 22-5 this season, posted a thrilling 71-66 victory over Montevallo in Gulf South Conference Tournament Quarterfinals Tuesday evening at The Complex.  The Lady Blazers now will advance to the GSC Semifinals to face top-seeded Lee University on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham, Ala., on the campus of Samford University.
 
Check back with vstateblazers.com for links to live stats, audio/video streaming, ticket information and more on the women's basketball schedule page for the GSC Tournament.