NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana had its most impressive showing of the season in NAIA Division I women's basketball coaches poll.
The Gold Nuggets (17-5, 7-0 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference), who received no points in the previous rankings Jan. 15, collected 23 points Tuesday to make the "others receiving votes" list at 28th place overall. It's XULA's highest ranking in this sport since March 9, 2016, when it was 25th.
Although the Gold Nuggets were three places and 35 points short of the top 25 — and the only conference leader not in the top 25 — 20th-year head coach Bo Browderexpressed no concern.
"We've just got to keep on working," said Browder, whose team has a seven-game win streak and 12 victories in its last 14 games. "Winning takes care of all your problems. We've got a big road trip coming up. If we could win those two games, I know we'll keep moving up."
XULA will visit GCAC opponents Talladega (Talladega, Ala.) at 3 p.m. Saturday and Edward Waters (Jacksonville, Fla.) at 5:30 p.m. EST Monday. Talladega (21-3, 7-1) is a half-game behind XULA and ranked 13th nationally, up two places from the previous poll.
Freed-Hardeman is No. 1 for the third consecutive poll. The Lions received 7-of-9 first-place votes, and No. 3 Montana Western got the other two.
It was the fifth of eight polls this season, The next rankings will be announced Feb. 12.
NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses — records through Jan. 27)
| RANK | PREVIOUS | SCHOOL | RECORD | POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) (7) | 20-1 | 218 |
| 2 | 2 | Columbia (Mo.) | 20-2 | 211 |
| 3 | 3 | Montana Western (2) | 18-1 | 207 |
| 4 | 6 | Campbellsville (Ky.) | 21-2 | 198 |
| 5 | 10 | The Master's (Calif.) | 18-4 | 188 |
| 6 | 4 | MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) | 18-3 | 187 |
| 7 | 5 | Wayland Baptist (Texas) | 17-4 | 174 |
| 8 | 9 | Vanguard (Calif.) | 16-5 | 162 |
| 8 | 8 | Carroll (Mont.) | 15-6 | 162 |
| 10 | 11 | Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) | 18-4 | 156 |
| 10 | 7 | Shawnee State (Ohio) | 17-5 | 156 |
| 12 | 12 | Oklahoma City | 18-2 | 142 |
| 13 | 15 | Talladega (Ala.) | 20-3 | 131 |
| 14 | 16 | Bethel (Tenn.) | 19-3 | 122 |
| 14 | 14 | Westmont (Calif.) | 15-6 | 122 |
| 16 | 13 | Menlo (Calif.) | 16-5 | 120 |
| 17 | 18 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 16-5 | 101 |
| 18 | 19 | William Penn (Iowa) | 20-2 | 100 |
| 19 | 22 | Lyon (Ark.) | 17-3 | 98 |
| 20 | 21 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 14-6 | 87 |
| 21 | 17 | Rocky Mountain (Mont.) | 15-7 | 85 |
| 22 | 20 | Providence (Mont.) | 14-8 | 63 |
| 23 | 25 | LSU-Alexandria (La.) | 16-4 | 61 |
| 24 | 23 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 15-8 | 60 |
| 25 | 24 | Arizona Christian | 15-8 | 58 |
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Others Receiving Votes: Loyola (La.) 48, Benedictine (Kan.) 33, Xavier (La.) 23, Pikeville (Ky.) 17, Mid-America Christian (Okla.) 13, William Jessup (Calif.) 3, Science & Arts (Okla.) 3, William Woods (Mo.) 3
