KANSAS CITY, MO. – On the strength of a pair of wins last week, the Iowa Wesleyan College women’s basketball team leaped into the rankings in the most recent NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Top 25 coaches’ poll, which was released Monday afternoon by the NAIA.
The Tigers are ranked 25th in the most recent Division II poll after IWC picked up 54 points to sneak into the final spot the polls. It is the first time this season Wesleyan has made it into the top 25 and the first time the Tigers are ranked since being 18th in the 2007-08 preseason poll.
IWC made a huge jump in just one week, for in last week’s poll the Tigers received zero points while two Midwest Collegiate Conference rivals were receiving heavy consideration. Grand View University was ranked 17th last week and Mount Mercy College was just outside the top 25, coming in 31st with 18 points received.
The Tigers picked up two key wins last week, though, winning at defending MCC champion St. Ambrose University on Wednesday and then holding on at home to defeat Mount Mercy on Saturday. The two wins left Wesleyan as the lone MCC team still perfect in conference at 5-0 overall. Grand View dropped out of the top 25 after a loss to Waldorf College last week and received one vote this week, while Mount Mercy received seven points to place 35th in the ranking.
Wesleyan has now won three straight games to get to 10-7 overall on the season. IWC has the most losses of any team ranked in the top 25. However, four of the Tigers’ seven losses have come to teams rated in the top 12 in the most recent poll, including a loss to top-ranked Morningside College, which received all 13 first place votes in the most recent poll and remains undefeated at 19-0.
This week was the second time in five polls released this season that Wesleyan has received consideration in the NAIA’s coaches’ poll. IWC received 40 votes in this season’s preseason poll, ranking the Tigers five spots out of the top 25 in 30th.
IWC will receive an immediate test of its new ranking on Wednesday night when the Tigers travel to Des Moines to face Grand View. Wesleyan then will hit the road again on Saturday, going to La Crosse, Wis., to face Viterbo University.
For more information regarding the IWC basketball programs or any of the Tiger athletic teams, contact sports information director Adam Glatczak (319-385-6306 phone; 319-385-6384 FAX; aglatczak@iwc.edu e-mail) or log on to IWC's athletics web site at www.iwc.edu/athletics.
