Unbeaten Thomas More women unanimous No. 1 in NAIA Poll, TMU men drop from No. 10 to No. 22

By Dan Weber
NKyTribune sports reporter

For the sixth straight bi-weekly poll and eighth place in the last 10, Thomas More’s women’s basketball is the No. 1 team in the NAIA as one of only two undefeated top 25 teams at 21-0. Just behind the Saints is the other, 19-0 Central Methodist. At number 3 is a team from Campbellsville (19-1), who beat TMU at home but have to compete on the road on Saturday.

Since the last poll on Jan. 11, TMU has beaten Cumberland, Tennessee, 65-60, Tennessee Southern and Cumberlands, Ky. 76-42, while beating Georgetown 79-51 at home. The Cumberlands’ win was TMU’s sixth over a ranked opponent. The Saints are 15-0 in the Mid-South Conference and have a 27-game winning streak that stretches back to last season.

Leading the Saints, as she has done throughout her career, is senior Zoie Barth, who led TMU in three of the last four games. But she had a lot of help from seniors Courtney Hurst and junior backup Kelly Burner who each had breakout games. And as always senior Emil Simon contributed to that with her fourth double-double last week.

Thomas More is fifth in the country with 37.3 percent three-point shoot mark and ninth with 45.6 percent field goal percentage. On defense, TMU allows just 8.6 assists per game, fourth best in the NAIA, while allowing just 5.6 steals per game, which ranks third nationally.

TMU takes on Lindsey Wilson College Thursday night at 5:30 p.m. at home. The Saints beat the Blue Raiders 70-56 on the road on January 7. They then head to No. 3 Campbellsville for a second showdown this month in a game on Saturday at 1 p.m.

NAIA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SURVEY
RANK LAST TIME SCHOOL [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] RECORD POINTS
1 1 Thomas More (Ky.) [21] 21-0 591
2 2 Central Methodist (Mon.) 19-0 571
3 4 Campbellsville (Ky.) 19-1 550
4 3 Dordt (Iowa) 19-1 527
5 5 Westmont (California) 17-1 525
6 6 Marian (Ind.) 19-2 486
7 7 Indiana Wesleyan 18-3 470
8 8 Clarke (Iowa) 18-2 460
9 10 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 18-1 448
10 9 Loyola (La.) 17-1 416
11 18 Carroll (Mont.) 16-5 364
12 14 Indiana Tech 17-3 356
13 11 Rio Grande (Ohio) 18-3 348
14 13 Vanguard (California) 14-4 345
15 12 Montana West 18-3 334
16 16 Eastern Oregon 17-2 330
17 17 Texas Wesleyan 18-2 284
18 21 Briar Cliff (Iowa) 15-5 275
19 19 Science & Art (Okla.) 18-2 239
20 15 Northwest (Iowa) 14-5 202
21 NR Pikeville (Ky.) 16-4 201
22 20 Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 15-5 175
23 25 Rust (Miss) 13-3 169
24 22 Sterling (Can.) 15-4 154
25 23 Southern Oregon 14-5 110

Dropped from Top 25: Cumberlands (Ky.)

Votes Received: Cumberlands (Ky.) 102, IU South Bend (Ind.) 97, Texas A&M Texarkana 54, Dakota State (SD) 53, Mid-America Christian (Okla.) 33, Grand View (Iowa) 32, Faulkner ( Ala.) 22, Jamestown (ND) 22, Oakland City (Ind.) 15, Menlo (California) 15, Grace (Ind.) 13, Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 7, LSU Shreveport (La.) 4, Bryan (tennis) 3.

TMU MEN FALL TO NO. 22 THIS WEEK

Ranked 10th with a 1-3 record in the last two weeks since the last poll, Thomas More’s Saints are now 22nd after a 71-57 win in Cumberlands (Ky.) on Saturday. TMU had two narrow, disappointing losses a week ago in Tennessee, falling to Cumberland (78-75) and Tennessee Southern (80-74). The Saints then failed in a 72-61 home loss to now No. 10 Georgetown.

In their win, the Saints got major offensive production from sophomore Casey Georges second double-double joining junior Reid Jollywho scored 21 points, his 10th 20-point-plus game of the season, and a sophomore point guard Jacob Joneswho was also 21.

TMU takes on Lindsey Wilson Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Connor Convocation Center. The Saints beat the Blue Raiders, 78-72, on the road on January 7th. Then TMU travels to Campbellsville for a 3:00 p.m. game on Saturday.

College of Idaho and Oklahoma Wesleyan remained 1-2 in the fifth edition of the Top 25 poll. maintained its position as the nation’s No. 1 team in the fifth edition of the Top 25.

NAIA MEN’S BASKETBALL COACHES TOP 25 SURVEY
RANK LAST WEEK SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] RECORD CLOSING POINTS
1 1 College of Idaho [18] 18-1 559
2 2 Oklahoma Wesleyan [2] 19-1 543
3 3 Langston (Okla.) 18-1 513
4 5 Arizona Christian 17-4 483
5 9 Union (Ky.) 19-1 472
6 7 Indiana Wesleyan 16-5 456
7 6 Grace (Ind.) 18-3 447
8 11 Indiana Tech 17-3 441
9 13 William Penn (Iowa) 18-2 434
10 15 Georgetown (Ky.) 18-3 401
11 14 Jamestown (ND) 17-3 391
12 12 Montana Tech 18-3 341
13 17 Kansas Wesleyan 18-2 327
14 8 Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 16-5 295
15 22 Loyola (La.) 16-3 288
16 19 Faulkner (Ala.) 17-3 278
16 16 Marian (Ind.) 17-4 278
18 20 Morningside (Iowa) 16-3 272
19 18 Evangelical (Mon.) 17-3 260
20 21 Florida College 16-3 228
21 4 Southwestern (Can.) 16-4 211
22 10 Thomas More (Ky.) 15-5 180
23 25 Iowa Wesleyan 19-1 153
24RV Texas A&M Texarkana 16-4 107
25 RV Antelope Valley (California) 18-1 84

Out of Top 25: LSU Shreveport (La.), Menlo (California)

Others receive votes: Ottawa (Ariz.) 74, LSU Shreveport (La.) 43, Saint Xavier (Ill.) 43, Madonna (Mich.) 28, Shawnee State (Ohio) 27, Dordt (Iowa) 26, The Master’s ( Calif.) 26, Thomas (Ga.) 25, Huntington (Ind.) 22, Tougaloo (Miss.) 20, Rio Grande (Ohio) 13, Eastern Oregon 12, St. Thomas (Fla.) 11, Mayville State (ND ) 10, Wayland Baptist (Texas) 10, UNT Dallas (Texas) 8, Hope International (California) 7, Northwestern (Iowa) 4, Olivet Nazarene (Illinois) 4, Lourdes (Ohio) 3.