Oct. 27, 2008

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Morningside (Iowa) received 11 of the possible 12 first place votes and ranked No. 1 in the 2008-09 NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Preseason Poll.  The Mustangs earned 312 total points.

Morningside will return four starters from the team that advanced to the National Championship Final-Four a year ago.

Hastings (Neb.) claimed the second spot in the poll with 299 total points.  Ozarks (Mo.) received one first place vote and will start the season at No. 3 with 292 total points.  Saint Francis (Ind.) came in at No. 4 with 283 points while Shawnee State (Ohio) earned 266 points at No. 5.  No. 6 Cornerstone (Mich.), No. 7 Concordia (Neb.) and No. 8 Indiana Wesleyan received 255, 243 and 236 points respectively.  Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) and Jamestown (N.D.) both tied at No. 9 with 231 points.

The 2007-08 National Champion, Northwestern (Iowa), starts the season at No. 14 after losing all five starters from last year’s team.

The first regular season poll will be released on Monday, December 1.

2008-09 NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball Preseason Top 25 Poll – Oct. 27

RANK	LAST WEEK	SCHOOL	1ST PLACE VOTES	TOTAL POINTS
1	2	Morningside (Iowa)	11	312
2	4	Hastings (Neb.)		299
3	1	Ozarks (Mo.)	1	292
4	NR	Saint Francis (Ind.)		283
5	7	Shawnee State (Ohio)		266
6	14	Cornerstone (Mich.)		255
7	10	Concordia (Neb.)		243
8	11	Indiana Wesleyan		236
9	8	Cardinal Stritch (Wis.)		231
9	NR	Jamestown (N.D.)		231
11	16	Sterling (Kan.)		219
12	15	Saint Ambrose (Iowa)		199
13	RV	Minot State (N.D.)		189
14	3	Northwestern (Iowa)		181
15	6	Davenport (Mich.)		173
16	RV	Taylor (Ind.)		161
17	17	Daemen (N.Y.)		156
18	13	Black Hills State (S.D.)		131
19	18	Southern Oregon		110
20	25	Union (Ky.)		109
21	RV	Notre Dame (Ohio)		105
22	RV	Southwestern (Kan.)		101
23	RV	Huntington (Ind.)		90
24	T22	Aquinas (Mich.)		81
25	NR	Doane (Neb.)		63

Others receiving votes: Bethel (Ind.) 62; Cedarville (Ohio) 50; Holy Names (Calif.) 44; Iowa Wesleyan 40; Rio Grande (Ohio) 34; College of Idaho 21; Milligan (Tenn.) 10; South Dakota School of Mines & Tech. 7; Grand View (Iowa) 5; Tabor (Kan.) 4; Oregon Tech 4; Ohio Dominican 1; Friends (Kan.) 1; Madonna (Mich.) 1; Marian (Ind.) 1; California State-East Bay 1; Northwood (Fla.) 1; Covenant (Ga.) 1.