by KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Haskell Indian Nations University women’s basketball team moved to the No. 21 position in the tenth edition of the NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday.
This is the first time that the Haskell women’s basketball program has been ranked in the Top 25 poll all season long, including the pre-season poll as well.
The Lady Indians will travel to the A.I.I. Basketball Championships this week in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which will take place at U.S. Cellular Arena from Feb. 26-28th at Mount Mercy College.
Led by fifth year head coach Shane Flanagan, the Indians (20-5) secured their spot in the tournament, as the #3 seed, by finishing 6-3 in conference. Haskell will play February 26, 2016 at 8:30 AM CST versus Northern New Mexico College who is (11-19) on the season. Earlier this season, the then No. 18 Haskell beat the Eagles in Denver, Colorado by the score of 69-57, but the Eagles were able to split the regular season series against Haskell with a victory in Northern New Mexico by the score of 83-75.
This year the A.I.I conference is a three-bid league, which means the first, second and third place teams get an automatic bid to the NAIA Division II National Tournament which will be held in Sioux City, Iowa March 9-15.
The final regular-season poll installment will be released March 2. Official qualifiers and bracket for the Women’s Division II National Championship will be announced via live video selection show at 5 p.m. CST on March 2.
Poll Methodology
• The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and the Association of Independent Institutions.
• 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 a 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 teams appears on.
• Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered “receiving votes”
• For the complete Top 25 calendar, click here.
2016 NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll (Feb. 23)
| RANK | LAST WEEK^ | SCHOOL | WON | LOST | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 2 | Morningside (Iowa) (11) | 28 | 2 | 312 |
| 2 | 1 | Saint Xavier (Ill.) (1) | 28 | 2 | 301 |
| 3 | 4 | College of the Ozarks (Mo.) | 25 | 3 | 293 |
| 4 | 5 | St. Francis (Ill.) | 27 | 3 | 282 |
| 5 | 6 | Southern Oregon | 26 | 1 | 266 |
| 6 | 3 | Marian (Ind.) | 25 | 5 | 261 |
| 7 | 7 | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | 24 | 5 | 250 |
| 8 | 9 | Davenport (Mich.) | 24 | 5 | 242 |
| 9 | 8 | Jamestown (N.D.) | 26 | 4 | 241 |
| 10 | 14 | Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) | 23 | 7 | 219 |
| 11 | 12 | Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) | 24 | 6 | 214 |
| 12 | 10 | Briar Cliff (Iowa) | 21 | 8 | 189 |
| 13 | 11 | Tabor (Kan.) | 23 | 7 | 187 |
| 14 | 19 | Mount Marty (S.D.) | 21 | 9 | 177 |
| 15 | 18 | Goshen (Ind.) | 23 | 7 | 170 |
| 16 | 16 | Purdue Calumet (Ind.) | 22 | 7 | 153 |
| 17 | 13 | Concordia (Neb.) | 22 | 8 | 152 |
| 18 | 17 | Lawrence Tech (MI) | 22 | 3 | 151 |
| 19 | 15 | Indiana Wesleyan | 23 | 7 | 137 |
| 20 | 20 | Hastings (Neb.) | 19 | 10 | 112 |
| 21 | 22 | Haskell (Kan.) | 20 | 6 | 93 |
| 22 | 24 | St. Ambrose (Iowa) | 20 | 8 | 89 |
| 23 | NR | Milligan (Tenn.) | 23 | 6 | 86 |
| 24 | 25 | Dickinson State (N.D.) | 21 | 7 | 83 |
| 25 | 23 | Bryan (Tenn.) | 25 | 4 | 78 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Indiana Northwest
Receiving Votes: Indiana Northwest 70, Oregon Tech 48, Eastern Oregon 42, Friends (Kan.) 36, Southeastern (Fla.) 16, Indiana East 11, Indiana Tech 10, Asbury (Ky.) 6
