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krikya18.com | January 23, 2018

A new look Top 10, Ashland's undefeated run, and three new teams enter the mix

  Lubbock Christian jumps to No. 2 in this week's poll.

After weeks of stability in the DII women's basketball Top 25, the past two weeks have been quite the roller coaster ride.

Complete WBCA Coaches Poll

While undefeated Ashland continues its reign at the top, the rest of the poll went through a shakeup for the second week in a row. 

The Top 25 by the numbers:

1 -- Undefeated team left in the rankings. That's the No. 1 Ashland Eagles, now 19-0. 

2 -- Top 25 teams that lost two games last week. No. 25 Virginia State lost to No. 4 Virginia Union and Chowan. No. 17 West Texas A&M lost to Tarelton and Texas A&M-Commerce. The Lady Buffs two losses were by a combined six points.

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3 -- New teams in the Top 25. Wingate enters at No. 23, Grand Valley State jumps in at No. 24, and Virginia State comes in at No. 25.

5 -- Biggest jump of the week. Glenville State rose five spots to No. 13 thanks to a 16-game winning streak. Head coach Kim Stephens is off to an impressive start for her career. She is currently 41-7 in her second season with the Pioneers.

7 -- Ranked teams that lost one game last week. No. 2 Indiana (Pa) was upset by No. 14 California (Pa). California then lost to Mercyhurst a few days later. No. 9 Alaska Anchorage lost to Seattle Pacific. No. 10 Drury fell to Bellarmine. No. 18 Michigan Tech was defeated by Wayne State. No. 19 Azusa Pacific lost to Hawaii Pacific and No. 22 North Alabama lost to Alabama-Hunstville. 

9 -- Biggest fall of the week, as West Texas A&M dropped from the Top 10 to No. 17.

16 -- Number of wins by the most Top 25 teams. Eight teams have 16 wins, five teams have 17 and 15 wins, three teams have 18 wins, and two teams have 14 and 19 wins.

19 -- Longest winning streak in 2017-18, which, of course, is owned by Ashland. 

23 -- Consecutive weeks that Ashland has held the top spot in DII women's basketball.

23 -- Teams that jumped, fell or entered the Top 25. Ony Ashland and No. 14 Califonia held strong.

51.6 -- Points allowed per game by Lubbock Christian. That's good for second in DII (trailing only Black Hills State) and the best amongst the Top 25.

56 -- Consecutive games won by Ashland. This Saturday the Eagles will look to tie the DII record -- both men's and women's -- with 57 straight wins.

73 -- Weeks Drury has been in the Top 25.

101.5 -- The highest scoring average per game. Ashland is averaging 105.0 points per game in January alone. Glenville State is the next closest at 98.7 points per game. 

408-44 -- Combined record of the Top 25.

1,001 -- Career wins for Bentley's Barbara Stevens. She picked up No. 1,000 against Adelphi, making her just the fifth women's basketball coach in history to achieve the mark.

FUN FACT: Ashland and Lubbock Christian are No. 1 and No. 2 in DII women's basketball. They are also the last two champions, Lubbock Christian winning in 2016 and Ashland in 2017. Both did it behind undefeated seasons, just the third and fourth teams to do so. 

The Top 25 conference breakdown

The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference had the stranglehold on the Top 25 with three teams for several weeks. They are now joined by the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference atop the conference breakdown. 

No. Conference School
3 PSAC IUP, California, Edinboro
  GLIAC Ashland, Michigan Tech, Grand Valley State
2 CIAA Virginia Union, Virginia State
  GLVC  Drury, Southern Indiana
  GSC Union, North Alabama
  MIAA Central Missouri, Central Oklahoma
  SAC Carson-Newman, Wingate
1 CACC University of the Sciences
  GAC Southwestern Oklahoma State
  GNAC Alaska Anchorage
  Heartland Lubbock Christian
  LSC West Texas A&M
  MEC Glenville State
  NE10 Bentley
  NSIC Augustana
  Pacwest Azusa Pacific

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