Panthers Top Regional Women’s Basketball Rankings

By  //  February 22, 2013

FIT Plays Florida Southern On Saturday

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – With less than two weeks remaining in the 2012-13 regular season, the NCAA released its first regional rankings on Wednesday evening and Florida Tech was positioned on top of the South Region with Nova Southeastern following in second.

John Reynolds is the head women’s basketball coach for Florida Tech. (Image courtesy of Florida Tech)

Lynn, Rollins and Eckerd were also ranked in the first top-10 poll.

“This is the first regional rankings of the season,” head coach John Reynolds said. “It doesn’t matter where you are in the first rankings. It only matters where you are in the last one.”

Florida Tech (16-7, 8-5 SSC) currently holds a 14-7 in-region record with wins over the South Region’s No. 2, Nova Southeastern, and No. 10, Eckerd—twice, teams. The Panthers are currently riding their longest skid of three games after falling to Lynn on Wednesday evening by a score of 89-76.

The Panthers are currently third in the Sunshine State Conference, and are a game and a half behind Lynn for the top seed in the upcoming Sunshine State Conference Championship.

FIT is just a game behind Nova Southeastern for second place and will host the Sharks on Wednesday, Feb. 27 for a pivotal SSC and NCAA South Region contest.

The Panthers will travel to Florida Southern on Saturday, Feb. 23 for its final conference road game of the season before returning home to host Nova Southeastern. The Panthers will close out the regular season hosting Tampa on March 2 at the Clemente Center.

The NCAA will release two more regional rankings on Feb. 28 and March 6 before the national tournament field is selected.

On March 10, the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Selection Show will be aired live at NCAA.com at 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.