NEW ORLEANS — The preseason women's basketball polls of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference and NAIA do not rank Xavier University of Louisiana as high as they have in recent years. But 18th-year head coach Bo Browder isn't concerned.
"We understand that we're a very young team with a lot of new players replacing some talented seniors from last season," Browder said. "But I'm excited about how good this year's team could be. We're working hard, and we're going to get better as the season progresses."
The Gold Nuggets received two first-place votes and finished third out of seven teams in the GCAC coaches poll. In the NAIA Division I preseason coaches poll, XULA was in the "others receiving votes" list, collecting five points and ranking 32nd.
For the first time since 2009, XULA is not picked to win the GCAC or in the NAIA preseason top 25.
XULA will have several opportunities in the early part of the season to impress the national raters. Before the next national rankings Dec. 6, the Gold Nuggets will play seven times against teams ranked ahead of them: No. 3 Our Lady of the Lake, No. 7 Lewis-Clark State, No. 24 Loyola (N.O.), No. 25 Carroll (Mont.), No. 26 LSU-Shreveport (twice) and No. 29 Langston.
No Gold Nuggets were selected to the preseason All-GCAC team.
XULA will open the season Nov. 4 — one week from Friday — at 5:30 p.m. against Florida Memorial at the Convocation Center.
SCHEDULE NOTES: XULA this week announced several starting times and one opponent change to the 2016-17 schedule . . . The Nov. 5 home game against Webber International will tip off at 3 p.m.
. . . The Nov. 25 Xavier Classic matchup with Langston will start at 5 p.m. . . . A Dec. 15 home game against Concordia (Ala.) will start at 1 p.m. . . . A Dec. 31 game at Dallas Christian will tip at 6 p.m. .
. . A Jan. 2 game against Oklahoma City was dropped and replaced with a visit to Paul Quinn at 2 p.m. Jan. 3.
GCAC Women's Basketball 2016-17 Coaches Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses)
Rank School Points
1 Talladega (4) 45
2 Edward Waters (1) 38
3 Xavier (2) 37
4 Dillard 24
5 SUNO 23
6 Philander Smith 22
7 Tougaloo 7
Xavier in previous GCAC polls
2015-16 — 1st
2014-15 — 1st
2013-14 — 1st
2012-13 — 1st
2011-12 — 1st
2010-11 — 1st
2009-10 — 2nd
2008-09 — 1st
2007-08 — 2nd
2006-07 — 3rd
2004-05 — 1st
2003-04 — 2nd
2002-03 — 2nd
2001-02 — 1st
1999-2000 — 1st
1993-94 — 1st
NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches'Preseason Top 25 Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses — records from 2015-16)
Rank Team Record Points Last
1 MidAmerica Nazarene (7) 32-5 218 1
2 Westmont (2) 29-4 213 3
3 Our Lady of the Lake 30-3 203 2
4 Campbellsville 27-8 194 5
5 Lindsey Wilson 28-7 177 15
6 Vanguard 25-7 175 tie-10
7 Lewis-Clark State 27-7 168 tie-10
8 Freed-Hardeman 27-8 165 13
9 Lyon 30-4 158 4
10 Bethel (Tenn.) 27-7 155 12
11-tie Shawnee State 29-6 149 6
11-tie Benedictine (Kan.) 29-7 149 8
13 Baker 28-9 136 7
14 The Master's 25-6 130 9
15 Central Methodist 26-5 125 19
16 Montana State-Northern 23-9 121 20
17 Pikeville 26-9 115 14
18 Great Falls 24-11 103 16
19 Oklahoma City 20-9 93 22
20 Columbia (Mo.) 27-6 91 18
21 Talladega 23-6 72 21
22 Wayland Baptist 25-5 64 17
23 Cumberland 18-12 63 23
24 Loyola (N.O.) 23-8 61 25
25 Carroll (Mont.) 22-9 57 24
Dropped from previous rankings: none
Others receiving votes: LSU-Shreveport 42, Martin Methodist 39, John Brown 33, Langston 16, Edward Waters 8, Mobile 8, Xavier (N.O.) 5
Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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