Oct. 26, 2009
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -
Coming off a national title in 2009, Morningside College (Iowa) has been tabbed as the No. 1 team in the NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Preseason Poll, the NAIA announced Monday. The Mustangs tallied 15 first-place votes to earn 436 points. Fellow Great Plains Athletic Conference foe, Northwestern College (Iowa) is No. 2, followed by No. 3 Davenport University (Mich.), No. 4 Hastings College (Neb.) and No. 5 Shawnee State University (Ohio).
The GPAC boasts five nationally-ranked teams, including three of the top five in Morningside, Northwestern, Hastings, No. 15 Sioux Falls (S.D.) and No. 22 Concordia (Neb.). The Mid-Central Collegiate Conference has four ranked teams: No. 8 Bethel (Ind.), No. 14 Indiana Wesleyan, No. 16 Saint Francis (Ind.) and No. 23 Taylor (Ind.).
Morningside has spent the past 13 polls as the nation’s top-ranked team, dating back to the 2008-09 preseason poll. Heading into the 2009-10 season, the Mustangs bring back three starters from last year’s undefeated national championship team and All-GPAC performers Laura Nelson (second team), Brittany Williamson, (second team) and Leslie Foral (honorable mention). Morningside must replace All-American guard and 2009 NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Player of the Year Dani Gass and All-American guard Autumn Bartel.
After a semifinal appearance, Northwestern lands as No. 2 in the preseason poll with 413 points. The Red Raiders were forced to rebuild during the 2008-09 season after losing five seniors off of 2008’s national championship team. Last season Northwestern opened at No. 14 in the preseason poll and finished at No. 6 with a 26-8 record. Aiming even higher in 2009-10, the Red Raiders return eight of their top-10 players and their top-five scorers from last year, including junior guard and First Team All-American Becca Hurley.
Davenport earned 409 points and one first-place vote to come in at No. 3. The Panthers advanced to the quarterfinals of the national tournament in 2009, falling to Northwestern 76-66. Davenport returns all five starters from a year ago after a 31-3 campaign. Leading the Panther charge will be First Team All-American Kallie Benike. The junior guard was also named Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Player of the Year as a sophomore. Also returning for Davenport are All-WHAC honorees Kristi Boehm (second team), Carrie Grubius (third team) and Brittany Lyman (third team).
Last season’s national runner-up behind the guidance of first-year head coach Jeff Dittman, Hastings enters 2009-10 ranked fourth with 389 points. The Broncos return all but two key players from a 27-8 squad and bring three starters back to the court. Among those back in 2009-10 are two-time All-American Lindsay Ducey and All-Tournament pick Kim Faimon. Hastings entered the national tournament ranked No. 18 after starting out as No. 2 in the preseason poll.
Shawnee State rounds out the top-five teams with 381 points. After closing out 2008-09 ranked second, the Bears were only able to advance to the second round of the national tournament before losing to Hastings, 77-69 in overtime. The loss was the only one of the season for Shawnee State, closing out the season with a 31-1 mark. First Team All-American Mideast Conference selection and Third Team All-American Mallory Albers will look to lead the Bears back to the national tournament in 2009-10. Along with Albers, fellow senior and Third Team All-AMC pick Allison Meyer and All-AMC Freshmen member Bianca Barton will need to fill the holes left by the graduation of three players.
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences. The first regular-season poll will be announced on Nov. 30.
| RANK |
LAST POLL^ |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
2008-09 RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 |
1 |
Morningside College (Iowa) (15) |
38-0 |
436 |
| 2 |
6 |
Northwestern College (Iowa) |
26-9 |
413 |
| 3 |
4 |
Davenport University (Mich.) (1) |
31-3 |
409 |
| 4 |
18 |
Hastings College (Neb.) |
27-8 |
384 |
| 5 |
2 |
Shawnee State University (Ohio) |
31-1 |
381 |
| 6 |
21 |
Jamestown College (N.D.) |
20-10 |
368 |
| 7 |
3 |
College of the Ozarks (Mo.) |
29-6 |
337 |
| 8 |
16 |
Bethel College (Ind.) |
23-9 |
323 |
| 9 |
11 |
Black Hills State University (S.D.) |
26-8 |
312 |
| 10 |
5 |
Dickinson State University (N.D.) |
26-7 |
308 |
| 11 |
17 |
Cedarville University (Ohio) |
21-9 |
294 |
| 12 |
15 |
College of Idaho |
29-5 |
290 |
| 13 |
12 |
Sterling College (Kan.) |
27-6 |
278 |
| 14 |
19 |
Indiana Wesleyan University |
24-10 |
233 |
| 15 |
RV |
University of Sioux Falls (S.D.) |
18-13 |
227 |
| 16 |
NR |
University of Saint Francis (Ind.) |
15-16 |
216 |
| 17 |
RV |
Aquinas College (Mich.) |
19-11 |
215 |
| 18 |
23 |
Southern Oregon University |
29-7 |
213 |
| 19 |
RV |
Southwestern College (Kan.) |
18-10 |
197 |
| 20 |
NR |
Saint Ambrose University (Iowa) |
20-11 |
142 |
| 21 |
10 |
Concordia University (Ore.) |
29-4 |
141 |
| 22 |
8 |
Concordia University (Neb.) |
26-9 |
121 |
| 23 |
25 |
Taylor University (Ind.) |
21-12 |
115 |
| 24 |
24 |
Cardinal Stritch University (Wis.) |
20-11 |
84 |
| 25 |
RV |
Haskell Indian Nations University (Kan.) |
16-9 |
77 |
|
|
 |
Others receiving votes: Holy Names University (Calif.) 71; Huntington University (Ind.) 61; Valley City State University (N.D.) 59; Mount Mercy College (Iowa) 54; Milligan College (Tenn.) 42; Walsh University (Ohio) 35; Mount Marty College (S.D.) 25; Florida Memorial University 19; Menlo College (Calif.) 14; Indiana University Southeast 13; Madonna University (Mich.) 13; Union College (Ky.) 11; Daemen College (N.Y.) 4; Grand View University (Iowa) 1; Friends University (Kan.) 1; Saint Thomas University (Fla.) 1; Minot State University (N.D.) 1; Cornerstone University (Mich.) 1; Mount Vernon Nazarene University (Ohio) 1; Northwood University (Fla.) 1; Philander Smith College (Ark.) 1.
^ Last poll was on March 4, 2009
