Lights, Skylights hang on in NAIA Polls

It’s getting down to the wire for the Montana State University-Northern men’s and women’s basketball teams. And after the last regular season Coaches Polls were released Tuesday afternoon, there’s only one poll left before the NAIA national tournament fields will be announced.

Following Monday night’s win over Carroll College, the MSU-Northern women remain ranked No. 21 in the new poll. The Skylights have a date with Lewis-Clark State in the Frontier Conference semifinals Saturday night. The Warriors stayed at No. 15 in the new poll, while Westminster, which plays UM-Western in the other Frontier semi, is still No. 3.

The last two men’s polls are critical for the Lights’ national tournament hopes, and so far so good. Despite losing to UGF in last Friday’s quarterfinal game, the Lights stayed strong in the new poll and are tied at No. 19 with Frontier rival Westminster. So essentially, the Lights didn’t drop even with two losses to end the season. Rocky Mountain College, which hosts UGF Friday night in a semifinal game, dropped one spot to No. 11, while Westminster hosts Lewis-Clark State, which received votes this week.

The final NAIA Coaches Polls will be released Wednesday, March 12, just before the national tournament fields are announced.

NAIA Men's Coaches Poll

Rn. Prv. Rec. Pts.

1 1 Cal State San Marcos 28-1 250

2 2 Pikeville (Ky.) (1) 27-2 242

3 3 William Carey (Miss.) 24-2 234

4 4 Columbia (Mo.) 28-2 226

5 5 SAGU (Texas) 26-4 218

6 7 Emmanuel (Ga.) 27-2 206

7 8 Talladega (Ala.) 25-5 195

8 6 Freed-Hardeman 25-4 192

9 10 Vanguard (Calif.) 24-6 185

10 9 Benedictine (Kan.) 21-7 181

11 10 Rocky Mountain 21-7 174

12 13 Xavier (La.) 22-7 159

13 12 LSU Shreveport (La.) 21-7 155

14 15 Culver-Stockton 22-6 153

15 16 Arizona Christian 23-6 136

16 14 Georgetown (Ky.) 20-9 131

17 20 St. Gregory's (Okla.) 21-8 112

18 RV Wiley (Texas) 22-6 93

T19 21 Westminster 18-11 91

T19 18 MSU-Northern 23-8 91

21 24 Lindenwood-Belleville 22-7 86

22 RV Wayland Baptist 21-9 83

23 NR Hope International 20-9 78

24 19 Evangel (Mo.) 21-9 75

25 RV MidAmerica Naz. 20-10 63

Others Receiving Votes: Cumberlands (Ky.) 58; St. Thomas (Texas) 43; Oklahoma City 24; Belhaven (Miss.) 19; St. Catharine (Ky.) 19; Concordia (Calif.) 9; Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 6; Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 6; Central Methodist (Mo.) 5; Edward Waters (Fla.) 3; Life (Ga.) 3; Martin Methodist (Tenn.) 3.

NAIA Women's Coaches Poll

Rn. Prv. Rec. Pts.

1 1 Vanguard (Calif.) (13) 25-0 250

2 2 Freed-Hardeman 29-1 242

3 3 Westminster (Utah) 22-2 234

4 4 Campbellsville (Ky.) 27-3 226

5 5 Oklahoma City 21-3 218

6 6 Oklahoma Baptist 25-5 209

7 7 The Master's (Calif.) 22-7 201

8 10 Our Lady of the Lake 26-3 188

9 8 Georgetown (Ky.) 19-7 187

10 9 Wiley (Texas) 27-3 171

T11 12 Columbia (Mo.) 24-6 168

T11 11 Westmont (Calif.) 19-8 168

13 13 Baker (Kan.) 24-5 158

14 14 MidAmerica Naz. 24-3 148

15 15 Lewis-Clark State 25-4 138

16 18 Talladega (Ala.) 24-3 124

17 17 Hope International 20-9 112

T18 20 Lyon (Ark.) 23-7 108

T18 22 Wayland Baptist 19-10 108

20 16 John Brown (Ark.) 23-6 95

21 21 MSU-Northern 20-8 91

22 23 Cumberlands (Ky.) 19-9 85

23 19 Bethel (Tenn.) 21-9 77

24 25 Xavier (La.) 20-9 64

25 RV Shawnee State (Ohio) 18-11 47

Others Receiving Votes: Loyola (La.) 45; Southern Poly (Ga.) 34; Langston (Okla.) 28; Mobile (Ala.) 23; Central Methodist (Mo.) 14; William Woods (Mo.) 14; Martin Methodist (Tenn.) 9; Benedictine (Kan.) 7.