Lady Statesmen Receiving Votes in Preseason Cager Poll
William Penn Women’s Athletics
Oskaloosa–The William Penn women’s basketball team will open the winter on the national radar as the NAIA Division II preseason top-25 poll was released Monday.
The Lady Statesmen, who were 12-19 a year ago, are unofficially 30th with 32 points. It is the program’s first time in the national rating since being 34th in last year’s preseason poll.
Grand View is the only team from the Midwest Collegiate Conference in the top 25, sitting at #8, while St. Ambrose is tied for 36th with three points.
Concordia (Neb.) leads the division with 342 points and 11 first-place votes, while defending national champion Northwestern is second. Ozarks (Mo.) is third with the final two first-place votes, while Indiana Wesleyan and Morningside conclude the top five.
#8 Briar Cliff makes it six teams from the state of Iowa in the rating.
William Penn opens its season next Tuesday by hosting Waldorf in non-conference action at 7 p.m. The schedule gets much tougher, beginning next weekend with games versus #1 Concordia and #18 Hastings at the Concordia Cattle Classic. The squad plays several other top-25 teams as well, including #5 Morningside (twice), #8 Briar Cliff, #9 Grand View (twice), and #19 Cardinal Stritch.
