Kansas City, Mo. - Riding a five-game winning streak into their final three games of the regular season, the Central Methodist women's basketball program climbed two spots to No. 13 in the sixth edition of the NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 poll.
Other Heart schools featured or mentioned in the Top 25 poll include No. 14 Clarke, and (RV) Grand View.
The Eagles have won 11 of their last 12 games dating back to the month of January. Their only loss came against, at the time, No. 10 Clarke 81-71 back on Jan. 22 in Dubuque, Iowa. With a 22-4 overall mark and a 12-4 record in conference play, the Eagles currently sit atop the Heart South Division standings with three games remaining in the regular season.
Central's defense has been potent during their January and February stretches, as the Eagles are ranked No. 7 in the nation in opposing field goal percentage (33.1-percent), No. 10 in defensive rebounds/game (31), and No. 18 in blocks/game (4.3).
Senior guard Arleighshya McElroy has led the offense with 20.6 points/game, good enough for No. 9 in the NAIA in scoring. Daryna Bachkarova and Leianya Massenat also average double figures with 15 and 10.6 points/game respectively. The duo of Eternati Willock and Leah Johnson have been a force down on the low block, as both nearly average double-digit rebounds/game to lead the defensive efforts.
CMU returns home to host Park University Saturday, Feb. 12 at 2:00 p.m. inside Puckett Field House.
To view the poll methodology and the complete Top 25 poll, please see below.
Poll Methodology
- The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences, Independents and Unaffiliated Groups.
- The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second place, and so on through the list.
- The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered low ratings) is removed and the team's ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the team appears on.
- Teams that receive only one point on the ballot are not considered "receiving votes."
| RANK | LAST TIME | SCHOOL [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] | RECORD | POINTS |
| 1 | 2 | Southeastern (Fla.) [20] | 24-1 | 591 |
| 2 | 1 | Thomas More (Ky.) [1] | 21-2 | 561 |
| 3 | 5 | Westmont (Calif.) | 19-3 | 553 |
| 4 | 6 | Marian (Ind.) | 22-2 | 536 |
| 5 | 4 | Campbellsville (Ky.) | 20-3 | 513 |
| 6 | 3 | The Master's (Calif.) | 23-2 | 486 |
| 7 | 7 | Carroll (Mont.) | 21-5 | 463 |
| 8 | 9 | Sterling (Kan.) | 25-1 | 459 |
| 9 | 8 | Morningside (Iowa) | 21-4 | 443 |
| 10 | 12 | Wayland Baptist (Texas) | 23-3 | 426 |
| 11 | 14 | Bryan (Tenn.) | 24-0 | 376 |
| 12 | 11 | Indiana Wesleyan | 21-4 | 372 |
| 13 | 15 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 21-4 | 351 |
| 14 | 10 | Clarke (Iowa) | 22-4 | 343 |
| 15 | 18 | Rocky Mountain (Mont.) | 22-3 | 321 |
| 16 | 13 | Northwestern (Iowa) | 21-5 | 315 |
| 17 | 17 | Indiana Tech | 23-2 | 299 |
| 18 | 20 | Saint Xavier (Ill.) | 18-5 | 245 |
| 19 | 16 | Providence (Mont.) | 22-5 | 234 |
| 20 | 21 | Mid-America Christian (Okla.) | 22-2 | 222 |
| 21 | 22 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 20-3 | 209 |
| 22 | 18 | Rio Grande (Ohio) | 23-2 | 186 |
| 23 | 25 | Rust (Miss.) | 19-2 | 150 |
| 24 | NR | Dordt (Iowa) | 20-6 | 149 |
| 25 | 24 | Dakota State (S.D.) | 20-7 | 130 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Concordia (Neb.)
Receiving Votes: Lyon (Ark.) 98, Hope International (Calif.) 89, Loyola (La.) 70, Georgetown (Ky.) 52, Grand View (Iowa) 39, Southern Oregon 27, Texas Wesleyan 19, Bethel (Tenn.) 16, Cumberlands (Ky.) 15, Columbia (Mo.) 12, St. Francis (Ill.) 10, Montana Western 6, Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 3
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