A Closer Look at the 2025 NCAA Division II Women’s Bracket

The NCAA unveiled its largest-ever Division II women’s lacrosse championship bracket on Sunday evening, identifying 24 teams that will begin the chase this week for the national championship.

The expanded bracket features six teams selected from each of the four geographic regions and included, for the first time, automatic qualifiers that won league championships. Seven teams, including five AQ squads, earned their first-ever NCAA tournament berth: Ashland, Dominican, Embry-Riddle, Frostburg State, Molloy, Rockhurst, and Slippery Rock.

The top two seeds from each region received first-round byes and are serving as host sites for NCAA first- and second-round games. Those teams are:

Atlantic Region: No. 1 West Chester and No. 2 Slippery Rock
East Region: No. 1 Adelphi and No. 2 Pace
Midwest Region: No. 1 Maryville and No. 2 UIndy
South Region: No. 1 Tampa and No. 2 Florida Southern

Winners of second-round games on May 10 will advance to the national quarterfinals on May 17. The four quarterfinal winners (regional champions) will then be re-seeded for the national semifinals on May 22 in Salem, Va. The championship game is May 24.

Here’s a closer look at what the NCAA selection committee rolled out Sunday evening.

Best First-Round Game

There are several potentially entertaining games among Thursday’s eight opening-round contests, but Wingate v. Limestone in the Atlantic is our choice. And with all due respect to Wingate, which earned its second NCAA berth in program history, most of the intrigue in this matchup lies with the Saints.

Last week, Limestone University announced that after 180 years, it was closing its doors due to financial troubles. The school held its final commencement ceremony Saturday, roughly at the same time that the Saints were upending Wingate, 16-7, to win the South Atlantic Conference championship and secure the league’s AQ for the NCAA tournament. Now, five days later, these league rivals meet again for the third time this year.

But while the Limestone players will wear their traditional blue and gold uniforms at least once more, the school that they represent does not technically exist anymore.

All that aside, Limestone has one last chance to chase the glory that used to be theirs, as long before the emergence of the Sunshine State Conference, the Saints were the torch bearers for women’s lacrosse in the South Region. While this is their first (and last) NCAA appearance since 2021, this is Limestone’s 12th appearance over the past 21 years. The Saints were national runners-up in 2011 and 2013, and a deep run in this year’s tournament would be a wonderful farewell celebration of their program.

First- or Second-Round Upset Alert 

It's always tricky to peg an upset, but one of the factors that can help is familiarity. Is the lower seed comfortable facing the higher seed? Based on that criterion, we’re tabbing East Stroudsburg, No. 3 in the Atlantic Region, to defeat No. 2 Slippery Rock in the second round. The presumption is that ESU will slip past Frostburg in round one to earn the date against The Rock. This would be the third meeting of the year between the PSAC rivals, and the second in a span of five days. Slippery Rock won both prior matchups, including a 12-11 overtime victory in Friday’s league semifinal. The Rock earned its first NCAA berth this season, while ESU is back in the tournament for the eighth straight year and aiming for its seventh straight trip to the regional finals.

Toughest Region

The South Region, which includes four teams from the Sunshine State Conference, is undoubtably the most competitive, as it has been throughout the 2025 season. In fact, it’s the only region in which five of the six teams boast a strength of schedule rating of over .600. 

Defending champion and No. 1 seed Tampa (17-1) is the favorite but will likely have to beat either No. 2 seed Florida Southern (17-2) for a third time or get past No. 3 seed Embry-Riddle, which handed Tampa its only loss of the year. No. 4 seed Lynn and No. 5 Flagler are the highest-ranked four and five seeds in the bracket.

Biggest Omission

Once again, we look to the South Region, which has had a history of deserving teams that have been left on the outside looking in (Florida Southern in 2021, Wingate in 2023, Limestone in 2024). The tradition continues.

Based on the quality depth in this region, and especially the dominance of the Sunshine State Conference, it was inevitable that somebody was going to get squeezed out. This year, it happens to be Saint Leo, which was a top-10 team for much of the year. Four SSC teams did get selected, but five were deserving.

The Lions finished 13-6, with four of those losses to Tampa and Florida Southern. Saint Leo had the fourth-highest strength of schedule in the region and recorded six wins over ranked teams in 2025, more than any other team left out of the tournament. They ended the season with a 14-11 loss at Tampa in the SSC tournament, a game that was tied in the fourth quarter.  

Names to Know

• Helen Bae, Maryville — The junior attacker has become the new offensive leader for the Saints and was a unanimous selection as the GLVC’s attacker of the year. Bae averaged nearly five points per game while leading the league in goals, points and draw controls.
• Keri Barnett, West Chester — After missing all of last season due to injury, the senior midfielder has rebounded with a monster season, impacting all over the field. Barnett broke the PSAC’s single-season goal record (101 and counting) and has 133 points for the year. Selected as the PSAC’s athlete of the year, she also has 53 caused turnovers and 75 draw controls.
• Peyton Howell, Tampa — In a tournament full of great attackers, Howell might be the most dynamic, having led the Sunshine State Conference with 82 goals and 104 points. She posted four games this season with eight points or more, including back-to-back 10-point efforts in April.
• Paige Jenkins, Slippery Rock — The Rock boast the third-stingiest defense in the nation, allowing just 7.4 goals per game, and Jenkins is one of the main reasons why. The sophomore defender led Slippery Rock with 33 caused turnovers, 31 ground balls and 55 draw controls while becoming the first player in program history to be named the PSAC’s defensive player of the year.
• Sadie Kauffman, East Stroudsburg — It’s been an outstanding and impactful first season for Kauffman, named the PSAC’s freshman of the year after leading ESU with 87 goals and a staggering 112 points. She’s the only freshman in the nation, at all NCAA levels, to eclipse the 100-point mark in 2025.
• Maria Reeves, Florida Southern — The senior has been a dominant presence on the draw circle, emerging as one of the nation’s top specialists with nearly 200 draw controls. She has seven games of 10 of more draw wins, including back-to-back games of 20 and 21 earlier this season.

Which Teams WILL Make it to Salem?

While all four No. 1 seeds are worthy of their selections and have legitimate championship aspirations, defending champion Tampa and undefeated West Chester line up as the two favorites based on their resumes. They are the only two teams that occupied the top spot in the USA Lacrosse Top 20 in 2025 and seem destined for a championship showdown.

Tampa will have to survive the South Region gauntlet to earn its way back to the final four, with Florida Southern as its strongest challenger. The Mocs have the talent to go toe-to-toe with Tampa and could easily be the team that emerges from the South. Meanwhile, West Chester won its 27th Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship Sunday and seems to have all the parts in place for a deep tournament run.

Last year, all four No. 1 seeds lost in the national quarterfinals, an unprecedented occurrence in the history of the Division II tournament. This year, we’re projecting a reversal, with Adelphi and Maryville joining Tampa and West Chester in a favorites-only final four.