A pair of road losses during the weekend couldn’t knock the Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team out of the nation’s top-25 poll this week.
The Skyhawks, who fell to Black Hills State on Friday then South Dakota School of Mines on Saturday, dropped 10 spots in this week’s Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Division II coaches poll and checked in at No. 23.
FLC, which is 15-3 overall and 9-3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, earned 62 points in the poll, one point ahead of University of California-San Diego in 24th and two points clear of Philadelphia’s University of the Sciences in 25th.
The top of the rankings remained unchanged, as Ashland University received all 24 first-place votes to hold on to the top spot with 600 points. The unbeaten Eagles of Ashland, Ohio, have been ranked No. 1 every week this season. Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Indiana, Pennsylvania, was second in the poll with 573 points, and Lubbock Christian University in Lubbock, Texas, was third with 538 points.
No other team in the RMAC was ranked in the top 25 or received votes in this week’s poll.
The FLC men’s program saw its 36-week streak of being ranked in the top 25 end when the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ top-25 poll was released Tuesday.
The Skyhawks split their road games during the weekend with a loss at Black Hills State on Friday and a win at South Dakota Mines on Saturday.
FLC was ranked 21st in last week’s poll.
While outside the top 25, the Skyhawks (14-3, 10-2 RMAC) received votes in this week’s poll and garnered 17 points, which would place them at No. 28, if the rankings were expended beyond the top 25.
No other team in the RMAC made the top 25, as Colorado School of Mines, which was 22nd last week, also fell out of the top 25. The Orediggers (13-3, 7-3 RMAC) received 10 points in this week’s poll. No other RMAC team received points in the poll.
West Liberty University in West Liberty, West Virginia, took the No. 1 spot in this week’s poll with 15 of the 16 first-place votes for 399 points. Northwest Missouri State received the other first-place vote and came in second with 381 points, and Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee, received 370 points to round out the top three.
The FLC men and women will play at Regis University on Friday in Denver, then at Chadron State University on Saturday in Chadron, Nebraska.
kschneider@durangoherald.com
