By Mike DeVader, Communications and Sports Information Intern
KANSAS CITY, MO. – The Mustangs of Morningside (Iowa) once again are sitting atop the 2014-15 NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. Morningside claimed all 14 first-place votes and 374 total points for a fifth-straight week.
With another top billing to their resume, the Mustangs sit alone in second-place on the NAIA all-time No. 1s list in Division II women’s basketball.
Morningside (21-0) was able to get a 14-point victory this week over No. 17 Hastings (Neb.) (64-46) on Jan. 17. With the triumph, the Mustangs set a new Rosen Verdoorn Sports Center record with their 32nd-consecutive win on their home court. The loss snapped Hastings’s nine-game winning streak in the process, as it fell into an 11-0 hole to start the game against Morningside. The top-ranked team was led by Ashlynn Muhl and Taylor Bahensky, who each scored 16 points. Bahensky was 6-for-10 from the field, while Muhl was 6-for-8 from the floor.
A road trip to Northwestern (Iowa) looms for the No. 1 squad tomorrow, as the Mustangs look to earn their 22nd win on the season. Tip is set for 6 p.m. CST.
Remaining at No. 2 is Davenport (Mich.) (18-0) with 362 points. The Panthers have sat comfortably in the second position the entire season thanks in-large to a potent offensive attack. Davenport added two wins to its record since the Jan. 13 release of the Top 25. In those contests – against Lourdes (Ohio) and Michigan-Dearborn – the Panthers scored 96 and 99 points, respectively.
Davenport continues to keep pace with the Mustangs as the only undefeated schools remaining in the 2014-15 season. No. 18 Siena Heights (Mich.) awaits the second-ranked squad tomorrow evening.
Once again, there was no movement within the top five, and only one change in the top 10. Concordia (Neb.) (19-1) (350 points) sits at No. 3. The Bulldogs held off then-No. 25 Briar Cliff (Iowa) on the road, 76-60, on Jan. 17. The top-ranked Mustangs are the only team to best Concordia, 78-70, on Nov. 15. The third spot is the highest the Bulldogs have been ranked since also being No. 3 on Jan. 29, 2013.
Standing still at No. 4 is Saint Xavier (Ill.) (17-2) (338 points), and Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) (16-2) (326 points) is fifth. Both schools call the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) home.
Within the rating, three schools – No. 12 Southern Oregon, No. 19 Robert Morris (Ill.) and No. 22 Madonna (Mich.) each rose two spots from last week. Menlo (Calif.) dropped three positions to No. 15, the furthest of any institution.
There was no newcomer to the ranking in this release.
Eleven conferences/Association of Independent Institutions/unaffiliated groups are represented throughout the Top 25, led by four teams from the CCAC, Crossroads League and the Great Plains Athletic Conference. The Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference has the second-most teams in the poll with three.
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and the Association of Independent Institutions. For the entire 2014-15 NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll schedule, click here.
The sixth regular-season edition of the Top 25 Poll will be revealed on Jan. 27.
Notes: (All information dates back to the 1999 – 2000 season) The top nine schools remain the same from the Jan. 13th unveiling, with No. 10 Tennessee Wesleyan making the first movement in the poll… Two Great Plains Athletic Conference members, No. 1 Morningside (Iowa) and No. 3 Concordia (Neb.), continue to claim a top-three position… The Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference and Crossroads League both have three schools in the top 11… Preseason No. 1 Saint Francis (Ind.) held steady this week at No. 7…Three teams were ranked No. 1 in the Coaches’ Poll last season: Saint Francis, Northwestern (Iowa) and Indiana Wesleyan… Indiana Wesleyan has appeared at the top of the poll on 35 occasions, the most of any program, followed by Morningside with 25 and Saint Francis with 24… Fourteen different teams have earned the No. 1 ranking all-time… Three schools have spent an entire season ranked 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 were ranked No. 1 in the preseason have gone on to win the national championship, with the last being Northwestern in 2011 and 2012… Morningside (135) and Saint Xavier (Ill.) (122) are the only teams that have been ranked in the Top 25 for over 100 consecutive weeks… Since 2007, the only national champions to hail from a conference other than the Great Plains Athletic Conference are Indiana Wesleyan (2007, 2013) and Saint Francis (2014).
2014-15 NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll (Jan. 20)
|
RANK |
LAST WEEK^ |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
2014-15 RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
|
1 |
1 |
Morningside (Iowa) (14) |
21-0 |
374 |
|
2 |
2 |
Davenport (Mich.) |
18-0 |
362 |
|
3 |
3 |
Concordia (Neb.) |
19-1 |
350 |
|
4 |
4 |
Saint Xavier (Ill.) |
17-2 |
338 |
|
5 |
5 |
Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) |
16-2 |
326 |
|
6 |
6 |
Indiana Wesleyan |
17-3 |
314 |
|
7 |
7 |
Saint Francis (Ind.) |
15-5 |
296 |
|
8 |
8 |
College of Saint Mary (Neb.) |
14-3 |
286 |
|
9 |
9 |
Purdue Calumet (Ind.) |
15-3 |
275 |
|
10 |
11 |
Tennessee Wesleyan |
17-1 |
263 |
|
11 |
10 |
Marian (Ind.) |
16-4 |
254 |
|
12 |
14 |
Southern Oregon |
16-2 |
229 |
|
13 |
13 |
Jamestown (N.D.) |
13-5 |
225 |
|
14 |
15 |
Friends (Kan.) |
15-5 |
210 |
|
15 |
12 |
Menlo (Calif.) |
14-4 |
203 |
|
16 |
16 |
Oklahoma Wesleyan |
16-2 |
199 |
|
17 |
17 |
Hastings (Neb.) |
13-6 |
192 |
|
18 |
17 |
Siena Heights (Mich.) |
15-4 |
159 |
|
19 |
21 |
Robert Morris (Ill.) |
14-3 |
157 |
|
20 |
19 |
Huntington (Ind.) |
13-5 |
137 |
|
21 |
20 |
College of the Ozarks (Mo.) |
10-6 |
132 |
|
22 |
24 |
Madonna (Mich.) |
12-6 |
112 |
|
23 |
23 |
Mayville State (N.D.) |
11-3 |
98 |
|
24 |
25 |
Briar Cliff (Iowa) |
15-6 |
94 |
|
25 |
25 |
Webber International (Fla.) |
12-2 |
88 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Others Receiving Votes: Point Park (Pa.) 78; Eastern Oregon 52; Union (Ky.) 15; St. Thomas (Fla.) 15;Southwestern (Kan.) 12; Ashford (Iowa) 11; Cornerstone (Mich.) 9; Kansas Wesleyan 9; Goshen (Ind.) 8; Olivet Nazarene (Ill) 8; Tabor (Kan.) 8; Oregon Tech 4; Southeastern (Fla.) 3.
^ 2014-15 NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll (Jan. 13)