KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The IU Southeast Women's Basketball program finds itself just outside the NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll, which was released Monday by the NAIA national office. The Grenadiers received four votes from national raters in this week's top 25 poll. The IU Southeast women's basketball program is currently 16-8 overall and an undefeated 9-1 in the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC).

The top-three teams retained their ranking for a second consecutive week in the eighth installment of the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll. No. 1 Hastings (Neb.) collected all 16-possible first-place votes, followed by second-ranked Davenport (Mich.) and third-ranked Cedarville (Ohio). Northwestern (Iowa) leapfrogged conference foe Briar Cliff (Iowa) to take over at No. 4, while the Chargers drop back to No. 5.

Concordia (Neb.) is the only new addition to this week's poll, checking in at No. 25. The Bulldogs last appeared among the Top 25 in the second poll of the regular season on Dec. 7. Concordia replaces last week's No. 25 Aquinas (Mich.).

With the addition of the Bulldogs, the Great Plains Athletic Conference regains its hold among the Top 25 with five teams earning national recognition, including three of the top five: No. 1 Hastings, No. 4 Northwestern, No. 5 Briar Cliff, No. 12 Morningside (Iowa) and No. 25 Concordia. It is the third time this season that the GPAC has had five nationally-ranked teams.

The Mid-Central College Conference has four ranked squads in No. 9 Indiana Wesleyan, No. 11 Saint Francis (Ind.) No. 18 Huntington (Ind.) and No. 24 Marian (Ind.).

Hastings (23-3, 13-1 GPAC) solidified its spot at the top of the poll over the weekend with a 70-64 win over then-No. 4 Briar Cliff. The win did not come easily, as the Broncos had to overcome a 10-point halftime deficit in order to secure its 23rd win of the season. With its 13-1 league mark, Hastings is currently in control of the conference race with three games remaining on the schedule. Next the Broncos will play host to Doane (Neb.) on Wednesday, followed by a showdown with No. 4 Northwestern on Saturday in Hastings.

After its worst offensive showing of the season in a Jan. 27 loss to Cornerstone, No. 2 Davenport found its high-octane offensive rhythm in two wins last week. The Lady Panthers posted 90-plus points in both contests, defeating Michigan-Dearborn 92-64 and Madonna (Mich.) 90-75. With the pair of victories, Davenport moved to 23-2, 9-1 Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference. The 9-1 mark is the best among the WHAC with four games to go. The nation's top-scoring offense (89.3 ppg) will hit the road on Wednesday, playing at Siena Heights (Mich.) and return home on Sunday to face Aquinas.

Cedarville ran its current winning-streak to 14 games by dismantling Wilberforce (Ohio) and Notre Dame (Ohio) by over 20 points last week. Leading the way for the Lady Jackets was the play of Aubrey Siemon, who registered 20-plus points in both games. At 22-3, 13-1, Cedarville has not lost since Dec. 17 and is in charge of the American Mideast Conference standings with five games left on the schedule. Among those is a collision with No. 7 Shawnee State (Ohio) on Thursday in Cedarville. The Lady Jackets will also take on Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) Saturday.

Northwestern recorded 398 points and moves up one spot this week following Briar Cliff's loss to Hastings on Feb. 6. The Red Raiders, currently second in the GPAC with a 21-3, 12-2 record, squeaked past Mount Marty (S.D.) 67-60 and trounced Dana (Neb.) 91-48 last week in conference play. A tough week awaits Northwestern. The Red Raiders will welcome defending national champion Morningside to Orange City, Iowa, on Wednesday and then hit the road for a Saturday showdown at Hastings. Wednesday's game with the Mustangs will be the second meeting of the season between the two teams, with Morningside taking the Dec. 9 meeting, 81-75.

A nine-game winning-streak came to a halt for Briar Cliff, in a 70-64 road loss to Hastings on Feb. 6. Suffering just its fourth loss of the season (22-4, 11-3 GPAC), the Chargers were pushed back into the No. 5 spot in the poll. Liz Grider, the nation's leading scorer, was limited to just four points in the first half despite the Chargers holding a 10-point advantage at halftime. Grider was able to find her game in the second half and finished with a team-high 18 points. Briar Cliff will look to get back to its winning ways, while also looking to avenge an early season loss (77-68) to Sioux Falls (S.D.) on Wednesday in Sioux City, Iowa. Doane is also set to visit on Saturday.


The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences. The next poll will be announced on Feb. 15.

RANK	WEEK	SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES)	RECORD
1	1	Hastings College (Neb.) (16)	23-3
2	2	Davenport University (Mich.)	23-2
3	3	Cedarville University (Ohio)	22-3
4	5	Northwestern College (Iowa)	21-3
5	4	Briar Cliff University (Iowa)	22-4
6	10	Black Hills State University (S.D.)	19-5
7	8	Shawnee State University (Ohio)	19-4
8	9	College of the Ozarks (Mo.)	19-4
9	6	Indiana Wesleyan University	21-5
10	7	Jamestown College (N.D.)	19-6
11	11	University of Saint Francis (Ind.)	16-9
12	12	Morningside College (Iowa)	16-9
13	13	Minot State University (N.D.)	18-6
14	14	Iowa Wesleyan College	19-7
15	15	Sterling College (Kan.)	19-4
16	16	College of Idaho	16-5
17	17	Cardinal Stritch University (Wis.)	23-2
18	18	Huntington University (Ind.)	17-7
19	21	Grand View University (Iowa)	21-6
20	22	Kansas Wesleyan University	18-5
21	19	Haskell Indian Nations University (Kan.)	18-5
22	24	Walsh University (Ohio)	18-7
23	20	Cornerstone University (Mich.)	14-11
24	23	Marian University (Ind.)	16-10
25	RV	Concordia University (Neb.)	17-9

Others receiving votes: Holy Names University (Calif.) 51; Bethel College (Ind.) 47; Aquinas College (Mich.) 46; Northwood University (Fla.) 42; Mount Marty College (S.D.) 25; Mount Vernon Nazarene University (Ohio) 18; Dickinson State University (N.D.) 15; University of Virginia's College at Wise 14; Southwestern College (Kan.) 11; Mount Mercy College (Iowa) 8; Taylor University (Ind.) 5; Northwest University (Wash.) 5; Indiana University Southeast 4; Saint Ambrose University (Iowa) 3; Ohio Dominican University 1; Florida Memorial University 1; Milligan College (Tenn.) 1; Bethel College (Kan.) 1; Bluefield College (Va.) 1; Union College (Ky.) 1.