KANSAS CITY, Mo. - For the second-straight week, Indiana Wesleyan claims the No. 1 ranking in the 2012-13 NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25, the national office announced Tuesday. The Wildcats collected all 13 first-placevotes and 343 points in the fifth regular-season edition.
Indiana Wesleyan is the only undefeated team remaining in NAIA Division II Women's Basketball. Last week the Wildcats were 3-0 and won by a margin of 31.3 points per game. Currently, Indiana Wesleyan is on an NAIA-best 20 game-winning streak.
Remaining at No. 2 for the second-consecutive week is Concordia (Neb.) tallying 332 points. Moving up one position to No. 3 is College of the Ozarks (Mo.) with 321 points. Morningside (Iowa) notched 299 points to hold steady at No. 4. No. 5 Briar Cliff (Iowa) rounds out the top five collecting 278 points.
Making the biggest jump this week was Concordia (Mich.), moving from No. 13 to No. 8, and Grand View (Iowa), moving from No. 23 to No. 18. Both teams were 2-0 last week. The Cardinals started last week with a 75-69 victory over then-No. 3 Davenport (Mich.) on Jan. 9 and finished by defeating Lawrence Tech (Mich.) 84-68 on Jan. 12. Grand View was victorious on Jan. 9 as they defeated Ashford (Iowa), 59-49, and continued its winning ways on Jan. 12 with a two point victory, 66-64, over then-No. 19 St. Ambrose (Iowa).
Joining the Top 25 this week is No. 22 Oklahoma Wesleyan, No. 23 Milligan (Tenn.), No. 24 Huntington (Ind.) and No. 25 Menlo (Calif.). Oklahoma Wesleyan joins the Coaches' Poll for the first time, since 1999-2000. The Eagles are currently on a six game-winning streak. Huntington and Menlo (Calif.) rejoin the poll after falling out last week. The Foresters have won three-straight and are coming off victories over Goshen (Ind.) and then-No. 25 Taylor (Ind.). The Oaks have won three-in-a-row and are defeating teams by 14.6 points per game. Milligan joins the poll for the first time since the 2011-12 Preseason Coaches' Poll and are leading the Appalachian Athletic Conference with a 6-1 record.
Four teams fell out of the Top 25: Union (Ky.) (No. 18), Marian (Ind.) (No. 20), Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) (No. 24) and Taylor (Ind.) (No. 25).
Twelve of the 13 Division II women's basketball conferences/independents are represented throughout the Top 25, led by the Crossroads League and Great Plains Athletic Conference with four ranked teams each.
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and Independents. The sixth regular-season poll will be announced on Jan. 22.
Notes: (All information as of the 1999 - 2000 season) Indiana Wesleyan has appeared at the top of the poll on 27 occasions followed by Morningside (Iowa) with 19... There have been 14 different teams to garner the No. 1 ranking all-time ... Three schools have spent an entire season at No. 1: Morningside in 2008-09, College of the Ozarks (Mo.) in 2007-08 and Saint Francis in 1999-2000... In the last 13 years, six teams that have been rated No. 1 in the preseason have gone on to win the national championship with the last being Northwestern, which has accomplished the feat the last two years... Morningside (109) and College of the Ozarks (102) are the only teams who have been ranked in the Top 25 for over 100 consecutive weeks.
2012-13 NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll - No. 5
|
RANK |
LAST TIME |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
|
1 |
1 |
Indiana Wesleyan (13) |
20-0 |
343 |
|
2 |
2 |
Concordia (Neb.) |
17-1 |
332 |
|
3 |
4 |
College of the Ozarks (Mo.) |
16-2 |
321 |
|
4 |
4 |
Morningside (Iowa) |
16-4 |
299 |
|
5 |
7 |
Briar Cliff (Iowa) |
16-4 |
278 |
|
6 |
8 |
Eastern Oregon |
19-2 |
277 |
|
7 |
6 |
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) |
16-3 |
271 |
|
8 |
13 |
Concordia (Mich.) |
15-3 |
268 |
|
9 |
9 |
Saint Francis (Ind.) |
18-2 |
264 |
|
10 |
3 |
Davenport (Mich.) |
18-1 |
248 |
|
11 |
10 |
Northwestern (Iowa) |
14-4 |
244 |
|
12 |
11 |
Saint Xavier (Ill.) |
16-3 |
236 |
|
13 |
12 |
Valley City State (N.D.) |
15-3 |
203 |
|
14 |
14 |
Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) |
18-3 |
198 |
|
15 |
15 |
Bethel (Ind.) |
16-4 |
188 |
|
16 |
17 |
St. Thomas (Fla.) |
16-2 |
177 |
|
17 |
15 |
Jamestown (N.D.) |
16-3 |
176 |
|
18 |
23 |
Grand View (Iowa) |
11-4 |
140 |
|
19 |
22 |
Southwestern (Kan.) |
12-5 |
124 |
|
20 |
21 |
College of Idaho |
11-6 |
121 |
|
21 |
19 |
St. Ambrose (Iowa) |
15-3 |
109 |
|
22 |
RV |
Oklahoma Wesleyan |
12-3 |
97 |
|
23 |
RV |
Milligan (Tenn.) |
13-6 |
78 |
|
24 |
RV |
Huntington (Ind.) |
13-6 |
77 |
|
25 |
RV |
Menlo (Calif.) |
15-3 |
72 |
Others receiving votes: Union (Ky.) 50; Mayville State (N.D.) 43; Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 42; Oregon Tech 28; Roosevelt (Ill.) 26; Siena Heights (Mich.) 21; Saint Mary (Neb.) 17; Tabor (Kan.) 10; Grace (Ind.) 9; Point Park (Pa.) 8; Ave Maria (Fla.) 7; Madonna (Mich.) 6; Purdue Calumet (Ind.) 4.