STANDISH, Maine – The first public NCAA DIII Women's Basketball Regional Rankings were released on Wednesday afternoon and Saint Joseph's College is listed ninth in the Northeast Region.
Under the watch of 24th-year Head Coach Mike McDevitt '83, Saint Joseph's is 19-3 overall and 13-0 versus Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opponents so far this season. Coming off an important 75-64 victory over Emmanuel College in a rematch of the 2016 GNAC Championship on Wednesday, the Monks sit atop the conference's North Division standings and remain as the only undefeated team in GNAC play.
Looking ahead, the Monks' defense of the 2016 GNAC Championship kicks off when the conference tournament, which features a new look in the first year of divisional play, begins with a quarterfinal round on Tuesday, February 21st.
Based on overall conference record, the top four seeds from the North and South divisions will advance to the GNAC Tournament. Quarterfinal competition will feature crossover matchups between the two divisions, with each GNAC No. 1 seed hosting the opposite division's No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seeds hosting the other division's No. 3 seeds. If the two teams that advance to the GNAC Tournament Final own the same seed, the winner of the regular-season head-to-head matchup will determine the championship host.
As of February 7th, Saint Joseph's ranks 25th nationally with an .857 winning percentage – five teams across the country, including Amherst College (22-0), the top-ranked program in the NCAA DIII Northeast Region, remain undefeated.
St. Joe's is one of three Maine programs listed in the first regional ranking, as Husson University (17-2) is fourth and Bowdoin College (17-3) is listed fifth. Saint Joseph's was ranked sixth in the first NCAA Regional Ranking last winter.
Saint Joseph's has three regular-season conference games remaining, as the Monks play at Rivier University this Saturday (1:00 PM), travel to Norwich University Tuesday (5:30 PM), and host Simmons College next Saturday (1:00 PM).
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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 474-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
