INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — For the second straight season the Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball (24-6) team earned the No.2 seed in the NCAA Central Region Tournament. The seeding was announced on Sunday night as part of the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Selection Show. 

The Golden Bears will face GAC champion Northwestern Oklahoma State (22-9) who earned the seventh seed in the tournament. The Lady Rangers enter the tournament by way of the automatic bid after defeating Southeastern Oklahoma to claim the GAC Tournament Championship on Sunday night. 

No.3 Minnesota State (29-2) earned the top seed in the tournament and will host, after falling to the Golden Bears in the NSIC Championship Game on Tuesday. The Mavericks will face off against Minnesota Duluth (20-8)in the first round who slid into the No.8 spot in the region after making it to the NSIC Tournament Semifinals. 

No. 11 Fort Hays State (24-5) is the No.3 seed, falling from No.2 last week after losing in the MIAA Quarterfinals to Missouri Western. The Tigers will take on the No. 18-ranked Harding Bison (24-6) who grabbed the sixth seed in the region after falling in the GAC Semifinals to Southern Nazarene earlier this week. 

Washburn (24-7) earned the automatic bid after winning the MIAA Tournament on Sunday night and are the fifth seed in the region. The Ichabods will take on Central Missouri (25-6), the team they defeated in the MIAA Championship Game. The Jennies earned the fourth seed in the Central Region. 

This marks Concordia-St. Paul's 12th trip to the NCAA Central Region Tournament and the second in as many seasons. The Golden Bears have won the central region tournament once, the 2013-14 season. CSP is 10-11 all-time in the tournament and are seeking their first win since they defeated Emporia State to advance to the Elite Eight back in 2014. 

The first round of the tournament is set to take place Friday, March 13. The semifinals will take place on Saturday, March 14 with the Central Region Championship taking place on Monday, March 16. The winner of the Central Region Championship competes in the Elite Eight at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh, Pennslyvania on March 24, 26 and 28. 

The Golden Bears are set to take on Northwestern Oklahoma State on Friday, March 13 at the Taylor Center in Mankato, with tip-off set for 2:30 p.m.