MINNEAPOLIS - Heading into the opening round of the NCAA Division III Tournament, both the UW-Stevens Point men's and women's basketball teams rank fourth in the nation, according do the Week 13 D3hoops.com poll, released Tuesday.

The Pointer women improve one spot in this week's poll after securing their third Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) tournament title last Saturday with a 46-42 victory over UW-Eau Claire. The Pointers have ranked as high as No. 2 in the poll this season and open the NCAA Tournament on Friday against Maryville (Mo.) at home. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Berg Gym will also play host to one other first round game on Friday, as Concordia-Moorhead will square off against Concordia (Wis.) starting at 5 p.m. The winners of both first round games will meet on Saturday, March 7 at 7 p.m. in the second round.

The Pointer men's team improved two spots in the poll after securing their fifth WIAC post-season tournament title on Saturday, holding off fifth-ranked UW-Platteville 45-42. The Pointers travel to St. Paul, Minn. and the University of St. Thomas for their first round game against the Rams of Cornell College in Iowa.

Friday's other game in St. Paul will be the nation's top-ranked Tommies of St. Thomas facing Aurora University of Illinois. Friday's winners will square off on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Schoenecker Arena.

Drawing arguably one of the best bracket sections in the nation, seven of the top eight teams in the D3hoops.com poll are on the Pointers side bracket and only one can make the Final Four.