CLEVELAND – The Delta State Lady Statesmen earned the No. 8 ranking in the final 2009-2010 USA Today/ESPN Division II Top 25 poll, released Tuesday by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.

National Division II champion Emporia State (30-5) picked up 20 of 22 first place votes to nail down the No. 1 ranking. Emporia State (Kan.) toppled Fort Lewis (Colo.) 65-53 in the national championship game.

Gannon (Pa.) picked up two first place votes and finished No. 2 in the poll after falling to Emporia State 97-94 in overtime in the Elite Eight semifinals. Gannon won its first 37 games before the setback to ESU.

Fort Lewis (35-4), Franklin Pierce (N.H.) (32-2) and Michigan Tech (28-2) rounded out the top five teams in the poll.

Delta State (27-4) was the only team among the top eight that did not win its regional championship. The Lady Statesmen finished one spot ahead of No. 9 Tusculum (Tenn.), which won the Southeast Region championship.

DSU's Gulf South Conference foe Arkansas Tech (31-3) finished No. 6, followed by Seattle Pacific (27-4), who nailed down the No. 7 ranking.

The only other team from the South Region to join Delta State and Arkansas Tech in the final poll was Tampa, which fell to the Golden Suns 69-68 in the South Region semifinal. Another GSC school – Valdosta State – received 15 votes but did not crack the Top 25.