SC Builders News
Women's Basketball - Tue, Oct. 23, 2012

WINFIELD, Kan. – The Southwestern College women's basketball team will open its 2012-13 campaign as a nationally-ranked team. The Lady Builders are ranked No. 16 in the NAIA Division II Pre-Season Women's Basketball Poll, which was released Tuesday.

Southwestern, which was also tabbed as the pre-season favorite to win the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference, returns three starters and seven letterwinners from a 2011-12 squad that finished with a 23-9 record, and a 15-3 mark in the KCAC. The Lady Builders finished as KCAC Runners-Up, both in the regular season and the conference tournament, and made their second-straight trip to the NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship tournament in Sioux City, Iowa.  

Tuesday's poll suddenly makes some of Southwestern's non-conference contests more interesting. The Lady Builders' home opener pits them against No. 3 College of the Ozarks, which finished the 2011-12 season with a runner-up finish at the NAIA Division II Women't Basketball National Championship tournament. Southwestern will also face No. 18 Hastings in a Jan. 29 contest at Stewart Field House in Winfield.

KCAC foes Friends and Sterling also made appearances in the NAIA pre-season poll. Friends was ranked No. 20, while Sterling was receiving votes. Southwestern and Friends will meet in each team's KCAC opener on Nov. 29 in Winfield.

The Lady Builders will open their season Nov. 2, when they travel to Crete, Neb., to take on the Doane Tigers. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. inside the Haddix Center on Doane's campus.

2012-13 NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll

RANK

LAST TIME^

SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES)

2011-12 RECORD

TOTAL POINTS

1

3

Concordia (Neb.) (11)

34-3

342

2

1

Northwestern (Iowa)

28-7

328

3

2

College of the Ozarks (Mo.) (2)

33-4

323

4

4

Indiana Wesleyan

33-3

314

5

6

Morningside (Iowa)

26-9

293

6

13#

Saint Xavier (Ill.)

24-9

275

7

10

Concordia (Mich.)

29-6

274

8

8

Briar Cliff (Iowa)

25-10

250

8

5

Grand View (Iowa)

30-6

250

10

11

Eastern Oregon

25-9

246

11

12

Jamestown (N.D.)

27-5

243

12

7

Davenport (Mich.)

30-5

237

13

17#

Olivet Nazarene (Ill.)

27-5

214

14

13

Corban (Ore.)

24-8

184

15

18

Bethel (Ind.)

22-11

177

16

20

Southwestern (Kan.)

23-9

171

17

17

Tennessee Wesleyan

24-9

167

18

15

Hastings (Neb.)

22-11

163

19

14

Cardinal Stritch (Wis.)

27-7

145

20

16

Friends (Kan.)

24-10

129

21

18

Ave Maria (Fla.)

29-5

108

22

NR

Taylor (Ind.)

18-13

99

23

RV

Saint Mary (Neb.)

22-11

96

24

25

Union (Ky.)

25-8

58

25

22

College of Idaho

22-9

46

25

RV

Saint Francis (Ind.)

19-13

46


Others receiving votes: Valley City State (N.D.) 42; Point Park (Pa.) 41; Madonna (Mich.) 39; St. Thomas (Fla.) 38; William Penn (Iowa) 32; Cornerstone (Mich.) 20; Sterling (Kan.) 19; Purdue Calumet (Ind.) 16; Huntington (Ind.) 8; Indiana Southeast 7; Warner Pacific (Ore.) 3; Menlo (Calif.) 3; St. Ambrose (Iowa) 3.

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