JACKSON, Tenn. – Union University women's basketball is the top team in Wednesday's Division II regional ranking after leapfrogging Embry-Riddle, last week's number one.
 
Union (27-3, 22-1 GSC) beat 8-seed Montevallo 87-38 in Tuesday's conference quarterfinal round and will face West Florida in Samford University's Pete Hanna Center at noon Saturday. With a win, the Lady Bulldogs will advance to Sunday's noon title game to play either Lee or UAH.
 
Embry-Riddle (24-4, 17-3), which appeared likely to have retained firm control of the region's top spot by winning out, dropped a pair of games last week, losing at home on Wednesday to Nova Southeastern and at Barry on Saturday. ERAU slipped to second in the rankings, ahead of the Eagles' SSC foes Tampa (26-5, 17-3) and Nova Southeastern (24-5, 16-4).
 
Embry-Riddle, Nova Southeastern, and Tampa all survived on Tuesday night in the opening round of the SSC Championship, which will resume on Thursday when Embry-Riddle hosts Eckerd and Tampa hosts Nova Southeastern. 
 
Lee University (24-5, 17-5)–Union's lone loss both in conference play and in the confines of the Fred DeLay Gymnasium–remained in position five, while the Lady Flames' Saturday competitors, UAH (24-5, 18-4), stayed at sixth.
 
West Florida (20-9, 15-7), Clark Atlanta (23-6, 15-4), Eckerd (13-7, 19-8), and Barry (19-10, 12-8) round out the list. With the exception of the Buccaneers, who fell to Eckerd on Tuesday, all teams in these rankings continue to vie for their respective conference titles.
 
Thus, the SSC holds spots 2, 3, 4, 9, and 10 in the rankings, while the GSC claims positions 1, 5, 6, and 7.
 
The South Region Championship, a seven-game event to be hosted by the region's top seed, will begin Friday, March 14, and feature the champions of the GSC, SSC, and SIAC tournaments and five at-large teams. Should Union host, it would do so for the first time since the 2021-22 season.
 
The NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Selection Show will air Sunday at 9:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.
 
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