SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster women's basketball received 45 total points to place just outside the top 25 in the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll that was released on Monday. The 45 points place the Griffins at No. 27 and just 16 points behind Biola (Calif.) who sits at No. 25. Defending national champion Union (Tenn.) received 280 points and nine first-place votes to claim the No. 1 position.
Westminster has seven of the preseason top 25 on the schedule during the 2009-10 season, including two games with Frontier Conference rivals No. 16 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) and No. 23 Carroll (Mont.). Westminster will host No. 4 Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) on November 12 and No. 18 Westmont (Calif.) on November 14. They will face No. 1 Union, No. 9 Lambuth (Tenn.), and No. 6 Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) on back-to-back-to-back days from November 19-21 in Jackson, Tennessee. Another Frontier Conference foe, Montana State-Northern, received votes and is also the schedule twice during conference play.
This is the first time since February 28, 2007 that Westminster was not ranked in the top 25, snapping a streak of 26 consecutive polls. They have now received votes in 30 consecutive polls, dating back to February 7, 2007.
The Griffins return seven players from a 2008-09 team that went 27-7 and advanced to the second round of the NAIA National Championships for the second time in three years. Seniors
Keshia Catten,
Michelle Pace, and
McKenzie Jessop are all potential starters and played crucial roles for the team last season. Newcomers Nicole Yazzi and
Allie Eastman should also get crucial minutes for the Griffins this season.
The season begins this Friday, October 30, when the Griffins face William Jessup in Rocklin, California. That game is scheduled for a 5:00 p.m. tipoff.
2009-10 NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll - (Oct. 26)
|
RANK
|
LAST POLL^
|
SCHOOL (1st Place Votes)
|
2008-09 RECORD*
|
TOTAL POINTS
|
|
1
|
1
|
Union University (Tenn.) (9)
|
37-1
|
280
|
|
2
|
2
|
Vanguard University (Calif.) (2)
|
31-4
|
272
|
|
3
|
4
|
Oklahoma Baptist University
|
32-5
|
261
|
|
4
|
8
|
Point Loma Nazarene University (Calif.)
|
27-7
|
250
|
|
5
|
5
|
Lee University (Tenn.)
|
30-6
|
238
|
|
6
|
6
|
Freed-Hardeman University (Tenn.)
|
25-9
|
232
|
|
7
|
6
|
Saint Xavier University (Ill.)
|
26-5
|
224
|
|
8
|
12
|
Oklahoma City University
|
31-6
|
220
|
|
9
|
9
|
Lambuth University (Tenn.)
|
29-5
|
209
|
|
10
|
18
|
Azusa Pacific University (Calif.)
|
23-11
|
194
|
|
11
|
13
|
Campbellsville University (Ky.)
|
26-7
|
193
|
|
12
|
11
|
University of the Cumberlands (Ky.)
|
29-5
|
172
|
|
13
|
9
|
Trevecca Nazarene University (Tenn.)
|
25-8
|
171
|
|
14
|
19
|
Columbia College (Mo.)
|
29-5
|
158
|
|
15
|
14
|
Southern Nazarene University (Okla.)
|
24-8
|
148
|
|
16
|
22
|
Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho)
|
23-8
|
129
|
|
17
|
17
|
Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.)
|
25-9
|
127
|
|
18
|
16
|
Westmont College (Calif.)
|
22-9
|
123
|
|
19
|
10
|
Lubbock Christian University (Texas)
|
27-7
|
117
|
|
20
|
23
|
Bethel University (Tenn.)
|
19-13
|
112
|
|
21
|
20
|
Loyola University (La.)
|
23-7
|
107
|
|
22
|
25
|
Auburn University Montgomery (Ala.)
|
20-9
|
98
|
|
23
|
NR
|
Carroll College (Mont.)
|
15-16
|
80
|
|
24
|
RV
|
Evangel University (Mo.)
|
21-10
|
65
|
|
25
|
21
|
Biola University (Calif.)
|
20-12
|
61
|
Others receiving votes: William Woods University (Mo.) 55; Westminster College (Utah) 45; Xavier University (La.) 37; The Master's College (Calif.) 19; Wayland Baptist University (Texas) 13; Langston University (Okla.) 13; Shorter College (Ga.) 6; University of St. Francis (Ill.) 6; Louisiana State University-Shreveport 5; McKendree University (Ill.) 4; Montana State University-Northern 3; Georgetown College (Ky.) 3; Indiana University-South Bend 1; Benedictine College (Kan.) 1; Morris College (S.C.) 1; William Jewell College (Mo.) 1; Pikeville College (Ky.) 1; Rogers State University (Okla.) 1
^Final Ranking of 2008-09 Season on March 11, 2009
*2008-09 Final Record
