Two area women’s college basketball teams are making noise in regional polls.

Fort Valley State is No. 6 in the NCAA Division II South Region while Georgia College & State is No. 8 in the Southeast Region. Yes, the teams are barely 70 miles apart yet in different regions. Eight teams from each of eight regions make it into the NCAA tournament.

Three other Peach Belt Conference teams are in the Southeast poll: No. 2 Francis Marion, No. 5 USC Aiken and No. 6 Clayton State University.

FVSU has played three of the top five teams in the poll: No. 1 Rollins, No. 2 Delta State and No. 5 West Georgia. The Lady Wildcats lost to them by a total of 17 points.

“The reason we lost those ballgames we lost is know-how,” FVSU head coach Lonnie Bartley said. “We’re just young. We didn’t know how, but it prepared us for the conference.”

GCSU is 3-2 against the non-conference region teams with wins over Valdosta State (75-65), Wingate (63-55) and Newberry (68-42) and losses to top-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne (65-63 and 67-59).

In the latest USA Today/ESPN Division II poll, Clark Atlanta is No. 24 and GCSU is tied for 36th. FVSU, which has lost to No. 11 Rollins, No. 32 Delta State and No. 42 Florida Tech, received no votes.

FULL RANKINGS

USA Today/ESPN Top 25