News you can use
News you can use
Frontier Conference Notebook
Montana State University-Northern's Ryan Reeves, ball, has already set the school record for blocked shots in a season. The Lights and Skylights are home for two games this weekend.
After two full weeks of Frontier Conference play in January, it appears one thing is a certainty — men’s and women’s teams are going to continue to beat up on each other.
And, as it relates to the Frontier, the new NAIA Men’s and Women’s Coaches Polls, released Tuesday, reflect that fact.
On the women’s side, in just one week, the poll went from having four Frontier teams inside the Top 25, and just one other receiving votes, to having three teams in the Top 25, but three more receiving votes.
The Montana State University-Northern women remained at No. 11 in the new poll, while Lewis-Clark State stayed at No. 2 for the second poll in a row. However, after that, there was a big shake up as UGF dropped from No. 13 to all the way out of the Top 25, while Carroll College also fell out. UM-Western however, even with a loss at Northern Saturday night, moved into the Top 25 at No. 25, while UGF, Carroll and Montana Tech all are receiving votes.
In the men’s poll, the Northern Lights, after splitting two home games last weekend, were hit hard for their loss to Rocky Mountain College, as they fell from No. 15 to receiving votes this week. UM-Western, the only unbeaten team left in the Frontier moved up two spots to No. 9 and Carroll jumped from No. 23 to No. 13. The Bulldogs and Saints are the only men’s teams from the Frontier now inside the Top 25.
So, with the continued parity in the Frontier, expect many more Top 25 movement in the next month and a half.
Faupel Closes In
Northern’s Natalee Faupel is coming very close to breaking MSU-N’s women’s all-time scoring record. Through last Saturday, Faupel has scored 1,523 points in her brilliant Northern career, and now needs just 44 points to become No. 1 on the all-time list.
The Northern record is held by Sheila Green at 1,566 points. Jodi Kruta is second at 1,562 and Samm Schermele is third at 1,537. Faupel will likely pass at least Schermele’s mark during Northern’s home games against Montana Tech and LC State this weekend.
Reeves’ Block Party
Speaking of Northern records falling, many probably didn’t realize when Northern junior Ryan Reeves blocked four shots against UM-Western last Saturday night, that he already had tallied 41 blocks on the season. Those four blocks were enough to surpass Kevin Owens’ single-season record of 40 back in 1994-95.
Reeves, who also leads Northern in scoring, is averaging 2.27 blocks per game this season, which ranks him sixth in the NAIA. Reeves is also leading the country in field goal percentage at .793 and is third in total blocks with his 41.
Warrior Juggernaut
LC State head coach Brian Orr has had some great teams in his 15-plus years at the helm. But few teams have ever started a season like the one he has now.
Not only has LCSC won its first 19 games, a streak that could be at 20 when the Warriors invade the Armory Gymnasium Saturday night, but, the staggering numbers they’re putting up are incredible.
The Warriors are second in the NAIA in scoring offense at 85 points per game, but they turn right around and are ranked No. 9 in scoring defense, allowing just 56 points per night, an incredible feat no doubt. LCSC also leads the NAIA in assists and assist to turnover ratio, is second in scoring margin and 3-point percentage, is third in field goal percentage at a whopping 48 percent shooting per game, and is fourth in the country in 3-pointers made with 158. In all, the Warriors rank inside the Top 20 in the NAIA in 21 different categories.
Individually, it’s just as impressive. Senior Caelyn Orlandi is leading the country in assists, Brittany Tackett is leading the country in field goal percentage, at 70 percent per night and Lauren Johnson and Brooke Litalien are fourth and fifth, respectively in 3-point shooting.
And it’s those kinds of numbers the Skylights, as well as the struggling UGF Argos have to go up against this weekend. But it’s also what makes Saturday night’s game between the Skylights and Warriors, the single-biggest Frontier Conference game of the season thus far.
NAIA Women's Coaches Poll
Rn. Prv. Rec. Pts.
1 1 Freed-Hardeman 17-0 250
2 2 Lewis-Clark State 19-0 242
3 3 Westmont (Calif.) 16-1 233
4 4 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 17-0 227
5 6 Vanguard (Calif.) 16-1 218
6 10 Shawnee State (Ohio) 19-1 206
7 8 Oklahoma City 14-1 201
8 7 Campbellsville (Ky.) 17-3 193
9 9 Lyon (Ark.) 13-2 190
10 14 Baker (Kan.) 13-3 178
11 11 MSU-Northern 14-3 171
12 12 Columbia (Mo.) 14-3 164
13 16 Central Methodist 14-2 156
14 15 Cumberland (Tenn.) 13-4 140
15 19 Benedictine (Kan.) 11-5 135
16 5 MidAmerica Nazarene 10-5 133
17 21 Bethel (Tenn.) 11-7 108
18 22 Our Lady of the Lake 12-6 106
19 RV Wayland Baptist 13-2 104
20 17 The Master's (Calif.) 12-4 99
21 RV Biola (Calif.) 13-4 82
22 23 Pikeville (Ky.) 13-6 79
23 18 John Brown (Ark.) 11-6 73
24 24 Lindenwood-Belleville 12-5 66
25 RV Montana Western 14-3 63
Others receiving votes: Loyola (La.) 60; Martin Methodist (Tenn.) 28; Carroll (Mont.) 27; Great Falls (Mont.) 14; LSU Shreveport (La.) 12; Talladega (Ala.) 9; William Penn (Iowa) 8; Harris-Stowe State (Mo.) 7; William Woods (Mo.) 7; Xavier (La.) 3; Montana Tech 3.
NAIA Men's Coaches Poll
Rn. Prv. Rec. Pts.
1 1 LSU Alexandria (La.) 17-0 188
2 2 Georgetown (Ky.) 17-1 182
3 6 Columbia (Mo.) 17-1 174
4 4 William Penn (Iowa) 14-2 168
5 7 Westmont (Calif.) 16-2 161
6 7 Dalton State (Ga.) 14-1 153
7 3 Biola (Calif.) 16-2 149
8 5 Oklahoma City 13-2 146
9 11 Montana Western 16-2 144
10 12 Pikeville (Ky.) 18-3 139
11 8 Wiley (Texas) 16-2 132
12 16 Texas Wesleyan 15-2 122
13 23 Carroll (Mont.) 15-3 109
14 21 Dillard (La.) 11-5 108
15 13 Talladega (Ala.) 14-5 87
16 NR William Jessup 13-5 85
17 NR Grand View (Iowa) 10-4 84
18 20 Cumberlands (Ky.) 15-4 83
19 NR Our Lady of the Lake 10-4 82
20 NR SAGU (Texas) 14-4 73
21 10 Mid-America Christian 12-5 65
22 NR Faulkner (Ala.) 12-5 61
23 19 William Woods (Mo.) 13-5 51
24 18 William Carey (Miss.) 11-4 42
24 NR Graceland (Iowa) 14-5 42
Others Receiving Votes: Montana State-Northern 40; LSU Shreveport (La.) 32; Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 23; Vanguard (Calif.) 23; Hope International (Calif.) 22; Feed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 18; Benedictine (Kan.) 16; Park (Mo.) 13.
Reader Comments(0)