NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's women's basketball team has its
highest national ranking entering a Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament
since 2003.
The Gold Nuggets are 10th for the third consecutive week in
NAIA Division I Coaches' Top 25 Poll announced Tuesday afternoon. Voting was
based on games through Sunday. It's the sixth time in 11 polls this season that
Xavier has been in the top 10.
Xavier (24-4) closed the regular season
with two GCAC victories — 71-61 at Tougaloo, 67-43 at home against Dillard — and
will enter its GCAC Tournament first-round game against Fisk with a 12-game win
streak, its longest since 2010. The Xavier-Fisk game will tip off at noon
Thursday at Barton Coliseum in Little Rock, Ark.
Xavier is the
tournament's top seed after winning the regular-season championship by one game
over SUNO and Talladega. The Gold Nuggets seek their fourth consecutive GCAC
Tournament championship.
The Gold Nuggets entered the 2003 GCAC
Tournament at No. 10 nationally, then lost 71-70 to Mobile in the semifinals.
But Xavier made amends at the NAIA National Championship by beating 14th-ranked
Trevecca Nazarene in the opening round — the Nuggets' only victory at nationals
during Bo Browder's first 11 seasons as head coach.
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NAIA Division
I Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll
(first-place votes in
parentheses — records through Sunday, Feb. 24)
| Rank |
Team |
Record |
Points |
Last |
| 1 |
Freed-Hardeman (6) |
29-1 |
277 |
1 |
| 2 |
Oklahoma City (5) |
24-2 |
276 |
2 |
| 3 |
Westmont |
24-3 |
263 |
4 |
| 4 |
Lubbock Christian |
26-3 |
251 |
5 |
| 5 |
Westminster (Utah) |
25-3 |
245 |
3 |
| 6 |
Cumberland |
26-2 |
236 |
6 |
| 7 |
Lee (Tenn.) |
27-2 |
228 |
tie-7 |
| 8 |
Vanguard |
21-3 |
220 |
tie-7 |
| 9 |
MidAmerica Nazarene |
26-2 |
209 |
9 |
| 10 |
Xavier |
24-4 |
197 |
10 |
| 11 |
The Master's |
25-4 |
194 |
11 |
| 12 |
Benedictine (Kan.) |
25-4 |
180 |
12 |
| 13 |
Shawnee State |
22-7 |
166 |
14 |
| 14 |
Rogers State |
22-8 |
165 |
13 |
| 15 |
Columbia (Mo.) |
24-6 |
154 |
15 |
| 16 |
Georgetown (Ky.) |
20-8 |
148 |
18 |
| 17 |
Lyon |
27-3 |
134 |
17 |
| 18 |
Campbellsville |
21-8 |
126 |
16 |
| 19 |
Faulkner |
25-5 |
123 |
19 |
| 20 |
Wiley |
25-3 |
114 |
20 |
| 21 |
Our Lady of the Lake |
27-2 |
102 |
21 |
| 22 |
Bethel (Tenn.) |
20-9 |
82 |
23 |
| 23 |
William Woods |
23-5 |
81 |
22 |
| 24 |
Carroll (Mont.) |
19-8 |
67 |
RV |
| 25 |
LSU-Shreveport |
23-4 |
65 |
25 |
eceiving votes: Southern Poly 58,
St. Catharine (Ky.) 50, Auburn Montgomery 25, Cumberlands 17, Central Methodist
16, Coastal Georgia 15, Baker 9, SUNO
8.
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