Northwestern College dropped three spots in this week’s NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball coaches’ poll released by the national office Tuesday.
Ranked 15th in the Nov.28 coaches’ poll, Northwestern fell to 18th in this week’s edition, totaling 141 points. The Red Raiders are 8-4 on the season, 5-1 in GPAC play, heading into Friday’s home game against No.2 Concordia. Head Coach Chris Yaw’s squad is one of five teams from the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) in this week’s top 25, joining Concordia (2), Morningside (6), Dakota Wesleyan (9) and Hastings (16).
Saint Xavier (Ill.), one of six teams still undefeated in NAIA D-II, holds down the top spot for the second straight poll, earning seven of the 12 possible first place votes for 308 points. Concordia received the final first place votes and accounted for 306 points. Southeastern (Fla.), College of the Ozarks (Mo.) and Marian (Ind.) round out the top five.
| RANK | WEEK | SCHOOL [FIRST PLACE VOTES] | RECORD | POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Saint Xavier (Ill.) [7] | 9-0 | 308 |
| 2 | 2 | Concordia (Neb.) [5] | 10-0 | 306 |
| 3 | 3 | Southeastern (Fla.) | 12-0 | 291 |
| 4 | 4 | College of the Ozarks (Mo.) | 12-0 | 283 |
| 5 | 4 | Marian (Ind.) | 12-2 | 270 |
| 6 | 8 | Jamestown (N.D.) | 13-2 | 252 |
| 6 | 10 | Morningside (Iowa) | 12-2 | 252 |
| 8 | 8 | Eastern Oregon | 9-2 | 250 |
| 9 | 6 | Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) | 10-2 | 238 |
| 10 | 11 | Indiana Tech | 11-2 | 211 |
| 11 | 12 | Southern Oregon | 8-1 | 208 |
| 12 | 13 | Indiana East | 8-2 | 203 |
| 13 | 20 | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | 10-3 | 183 |
| 14 | 7 | St. Francis (Ill.) | 7-4 | 177 |
| 15 | 23 | Indiana Wesleyan | 10-2 | 170 |
| 16 | 19 | Hastings (Neb.) | 9-2 | 169 |
| 17 | 14 | Tabor (Kan.) | 8-3 | 149 |
| 18 | 15 | Northwestern (Iowa) | 8-4 | 141 |
| 19 | NR | Valley City State (N.D.) | 10-0 | 134 |
| 20 | 17 | Saint Francis (Ind.) | 7-4 | 104 |
| 21 | 21 | Friends (Kan.) | 8-4 | 100 |
| 22 | 24 | Lawrence Tech (Mich.) | 10-2 | 99 |
| 23 | 16 | Mayville State (N.D.) | 9-3 | 98 |
| 24 | 25 | Northwest Christian (Ore.) | 8-0 | 91 |
| 25 | NR | Point (Ga.) | 9-3 | 85 |
Dropped from the Top 25: No. 22 Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) and No. 18 Reinhardt (Ga.)
Others Receiving Votes: Roosevelt (Ill.) 34, Rio Grande (Ohio) 27, Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 27, Taylor (Ind.) 27, Tennessee Wesleyan 27, Ave Maria (Fla.) 20, Cardinal Stritch 15, Sterling (Kan.) 8, Reinhardt 7, Concordia (Mich.) 7 and Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 4.
