2016 Women’s Division II Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – (Feb. 23)
By Colbi Howser, Communications and Sports Information Intern
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Morningside (Iowa) claims the No. 1 position in the tenth edition of the NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. The final regular-season installment will be released March 2. Official qualifiers and bracket for the Women’s Division II National Championship will be announced via live video selection show at 5 p.m. CST on March 2.
Top 25 highlights (historical information dated back to 1991):
• No. 1 Morningside (Iowa) takes control of the Top 25 Poll this week receiving 11-of-12 first place votes and a total of 312 points. The Mustangs are the Great Plains Athletic Conference regular-season champions and will be making its way to Sioux City, Iowa, for the national championship.
• Morningside has not been ranked No. 1 since the Jan. 19 poll.
• Grabbing the final first place vote is No. 2 Saint Xavier (Ill.) who lost the top spot after losing to then-No. 12 Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) in the NAIA Game of the Week, Feb. 20.
• In the NAIA Network Game of the Week, presented by Stretch Internet, Monica Hinderer and Mika Passini combined for 41 points to lead then-No. 12 Cardinal Stritch over then-No. 1 Saint Xavier, 83-72 in overtime.
• No. 6 Marian (Ind.) drops three spots in the poll after a 0-2 week with losses against Grace (Ind.), 64-59, and then-No. 18 Goshen (Ind.), 73-63.
• No. 23 Milligan (Tenn.) makes its way into the Top 25 this week with wins against No. 25 Bryan (Tenn.), 77-75, and Columbia (S.C.), 69-56.
• Morningside and Saint Xavier both lead the division with most games won with 28.
• Eleven teams either moved up one spot or dropped one spot in the poll.
• The Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference and Great Plains Athletic Conference lead the leagues with six teams represented each.
• No. 19 Indiana Wesleyan (22-6) has the most No. 1 rankings in NAIA history with 34. No. 1 Morningside is second with 27.
• Morningside holds the active streak of being ranked in the Top 25 (123). No. 3 College of the Ozarks (Mo.) streak of 116-straight is second.
• College of the Ozarks (2007-08), Morningside (2008-09) and Saint Francis (Ind.) (1999-00) are the only teams to go the entire season ranked No. 1.
Poll Methodology
• The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and the Association of Independent Institutions.
• The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second-place and so on through the list.
• The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low ratings) is removed and the team’s ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the teams appears on.
• Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered “receiving votes”
• For the complete Top 25 calendar, click here.
2016 NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll (Feb. 23)
| RANK |
LAST WEEK^ |
SCHOOL |
WON |
LOST |
FINAL POINTS |
| 1 |
2 |
Morningside (Iowa) (11) |
28 |
2 |
312 |
| 2 |
1 |
Saint Xavier (Ill.) (1) |
28 |
2 |
301 |
| 3 |
4 |
College of the Ozarks (Mo.) |
25 |
3 |
293 |
| 4 |
5 |
St. Francis (Ill.) |
27 |
3 |
282 |
| 5 |
6 |
Southern Oregon |
26 |
1 |
266 |
| 6 |
3 |
Marian (Ind.) |
25 |
5 |
261 |
| 7 |
7 |
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) |
24 |
5 |
250 |
| 8 |
9 |
Davenport (Mich.) |
24 |
5 |
242 |
| 9 |
8 |
Jamestown (N.D.) |
26 |
4 |
241 |
| 10 |
14 |
Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) |
23 |
7 |
219 |
| 11 |
12 |
Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) |
24 |
6 |
214 |
| 12 |
10 |
Briar Cliff (Iowa) |
21 |
8 |
189 |
| 13 |
11 |
Tabor (Kan.) |
23 |
7 |
187 |
| 14 |
19 |
Mount Marty (S.D.) |
21 |
9 |
177 |
| 15 |
18 |
Goshen (Ind.) |
23 |
7 |
170 |
| 16 |
16 |
Purdue Calumet (Ind.) |
22 |
7 |
153 |
| 17 |
13 |
Concordia (Neb.) |
22 |
8 |
152 |
| 18 |
17 |
Lawrence Tech (MI) |
22 |
3 |
151 |
| 19 |
15 |
Indiana Wesleyan |
23 |
7 |
137 |
| 20 |
20 |
Hastings (Neb.) |
19 |
10 |
112 |
| 21 |
22 |
Haskell (Kan.) |
20 |
6 |
93 |
| 22 |
24 |
St. Ambrose (Iowa) |
20 |
8 |
89 |
| 23 |
NR |
Milligan (Tenn.) |
23 |
6 |
86 |
| 24 |
25 |
Dickinson State (N.D.) |
21 |
7 |
83 |
| 25 |
23 |
Bryan (Tenn.) |
25 |
4 |
78 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Dropped from the Top 25: Indiana Northwest
Receiving Votes: Indiana Northwest 70,
Oregon Tech 48, Eastern Oregon 42, Friends (Kan.) 36, Southeastern (Fla.) 16, Indiana East 11, Indiana Tech 10, Asbury (Ky.) 6