Despite winning the Frontier Conference tournament title and having two teams ranked in front of them lose in either the first or second round of their conference tournaments, the Lewis-Clark State College women’s basketball team remained at No. 10 in the final NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 poll.
The Warriors, 28-4, drew 223 points in the poll to finish 11 points behind Biola, which went 25-6 during the season and lost in the opening round of the Golden State Athletic Conference tournament. At No. 8 is Westminster with 236 points, which despite beating LCSC twice during the season, lost in the semifinals of the Frontier Conference tournament that LCSC won for the fourth straight year.
Although the seedings and pairings for the NAIA national tournament won’t be announced until later today, the Warriors are expected to do no worse than a No. 3 seed. If LCSC had been ranked in the top eight, it would have had a great shot at earning at No. 2 seed.
Union, which plays host to the national tournament, was the unanimous No. 1 selection with all 12 first-place votes. Campbellsville of Kentucky climbed to the No. 2 spots while Azusa Pacific, a team LCSC beat on the road this season, is at No. 3. Oklahoma City, California Baptist, Bethel, and Freed-Hardman round out the top seven.
Montana Tech, which LCSC eliminated in the semifinals of the conference tournament, had 18 points in the poll and would have been ranked at No. 30 if the poll went that far. Carroll College, the team LCSC beat in the finals, had one vote.
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences.
|
RANK
|
LAST WEEK
|
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES)
|
2010 – 11 RECORD
|
TOTAL POINTS
|
|
1
|
1
|
Union University (Tenn.) (12)
|
31-1
|
312
|
|
2
|
4
|
Campbellsville University (Ky.)
|
28-3
|
301
|
|
3
|
3
|
Azusa Pacific University (Calif.)
|
28-5
|
288
|
|
4
|
2
|
Oklahoma City University
|
25-3
|
286
|
|
5
|
5
|
California Baptist University
|
26-7
|
274
|
|
6
|
6
|
Bethel University (Tenn.)
|
26-6
|
263
|
|
7
|
7
|
Freed-Hardeman University (Tenn.)
|
24-8
|
251
|
|
8
|
8
|
Westminster College (Utah)
|
26-6
|
236
|
|
9
|
8
|
Biola University (Calif.)
|
25-6
|
234
|
|
10
|
10
|
Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho)
|
28-4
|
223
|
|
11
|
14
|
Columbia College (Mo.)
|
28-5
|
203
|
|
12
|
16
|
Saint Xavier University (Ill.)
|
24-6
|
191
|
|
13
|
15
|
Langston University (Okla.)
|
28-5
|
184
|
|
13
|
11
|
Lee University (Tenn.)
|
25-6
|
184
|
|
15
|
13
|
Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.)
|
23-8
|
160
|
|
16
|
12
|
Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.)
|
26-6
|
158
|
|
17
|
19
|
Southern Polytechnic State University (Ga.)
|
29-4
|
154
|
|
18
|
18
|
Southern Nazarene University (Okla.)
|
27-6
|
153
|
|
19
|
17
|
Vanguard University (Calif.)
|
17-11
|
139
|
|
20
|
20
|
Xavier University (La.)
|
26-6
|
128
|
|
21
|
21
|
William Woods University (Mo.)
|
29-9
|
101
|
|
22
|
24
|
Lubbock Christian University (Texas)
|
21-9
|
96
|
|
23
|
22
|
Westmont College (Calif.)
|
20-9
|
91
|
|
24
|
RV
|
Shawnee State University (Ohio)
|
24-9
|
74
|
|
24
|
23
|
Evangel University (Mo.)
|
21-8
|
74
|
Others receiving votes: Shorter University (Ga.) 70; Rogers State University (Okla.) 57; Texas Wesleyan University 26; Belhaven University (Miss.) 25; Montana Tech 18; John Brown University (Ark.) 7; Voorhees College (S.C.) 5; Lindenwood University (Mo.) 3; Robert Morris University (Ill.) 1; Carroll College (Mont.) 1; Loyola University (La.) 1; Avila University (Mo.) 1.
