Skylights sit at No.11 in new poll

The Montana State University-Northern women's basketball team may be on a rare two-game losing streak right now. But it isn't hurting the Skylights any in the national rankings.

Following Northern's loss to then No. 22 Great Falls last Saturday night, the Skylights dipped just one spot in the new NAIA Coaches Poll released Tuesday afternoon. Northern, which is a stellar 20-3 on the season, currently sits at No. 11 heading into this weekend's road games at Lewis-Clark State and Montana Tech.

The Frontier Conference still has five women's teams ranked. Westminster remained at No. 4 in this week's poll, while Carroll College and UGF moved up. The Fighting Saints moved up to No. 17 while UGF moved up two spots to No. 20 after its upset of Northern. Following a tough weekend, LC State dropped three spots to No. 21.

In the men's poll, UM-Western vaulted back up the rankings after sweeping a pair of games over the weekend. The Bulldogs jumped from No. 18 to No. 11 in the new NAIA Men's Coaches Poll. UGF, which was upset by Northern last Saturday, dropped from No. 12 to No. 20. Montana Tech also received votes in the poll.

Carroll College's Zach Taylor was named the Frontier Men's Player of the Week, while UGF's Lindsey Abramson not only was named Frontier Women's Player of the Week, but also the NAIA National Player of the Week.

Note: For more news on the Frontier Conference, see Page A7 in today's Havre Daily News.

NAIA Women's Coaches Poll

Rn. Prv. Rec. Pts.

1 1 Freed-Hardeman 21-1 219

2 2 Oklahoma City (1) 15-1 212

3 3 Campbellsville (Ky.) 21-1 205

4 4 Westminster (Utah) 16-2 198

5 5 Bethel (Tenn.) 20-2 191

6 6 Loyola (La.) 19-1 184

7 7 Langston (Okla.) 19-1 177

8 T8 Concordia (Calif.) 16-4 167

9 12 Vanguard (Calif.) 15-5 162

10 T8 Oklahoma Baptist 15-4 158

11 10 MSU-Northern 20-3 148

12 11 The Master's (Calif.) 16-6 137

13 15 MidAmerica Nazarene 17-5 131

14 14 Wiley (Texas) 15-2 129

15 13 Our Lady of the Lake 16-5 124

16 17 Westmont (Calif.) 18-5 114

17 19 Carroll (Mont.) 14-6 108

18 20 Lyon (Ark.) 18-4 104

19 21 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 18-5 93

20 22 Great Falls (Mont.) 18-4 86

21 18 Lewis-Clark State 18-5 77

22 16 Shawnee State (Ohio) 17-7 70

T23 23 Martin Methodist 19-4 62

T23 25 Benedictine (Kan.) 17-6 62

25 RV Texas Wesleyan 15-7 48

Others receiving votes: Columbia (Mo.) 38; Wayland Baptist (Texas) 28; Cumberland (Tenn.) 16; Pikeville (Ky.) 15; William Woods (Mo.) 14; Culver-Stockton (Mo.) 8; Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) 7; Southern-New Orleans (La.) 7; Georgetown (Ky.) 6; Baker (Kan.) 3.

NAIA Men's Coaches Poll

Rn. Prv. Rec. Pts.

1 1 Cal State San Marcos 20-2 248

2 3 Hope International (3) 20-1 244

3 4 Talladega (Ala.) 20-3 229

4 5 Freed-Hardeman 19-2 225

5 2 Pikeville (Ky.) 21-2 223

6 6 Campbellsville (Ky.) 20-3 210

7 7 Benedictine (Kan.) 19-4 195

T8 22 Bethel (Tenn.) 18-4 180

T8 T14 Concordia (Calif.) 19-4 180

10 10 Arizona Christian 18-5 165

11 18 Montana Western 17-5 164

12 8 Dalton State (Ga.) 17-3 159

13 T14 Georgetown (Ky.) 19-3 156

14 17 Mid-America Christian 15-7 150

15 13 Columbia (Mo.) 19-4 148

16 T14 Martin Methodist 19-3 135

17 20 Oklahoma Baptist 17-5 127

18 19 Xavier (La.) 17-6 111

19 25 LSU Alexandria 13-2 108

20 12 Great Falls (Mont.) 16-5 106

21 9 Wayland Baptist 17-4 104

22 11 Our Lady of the Lake 14-4 77

23 21 Evangel (Mo.) 14-8 76

24 23 Cumberlands (Ky.) 18-5 57

25 RV SAGU (Texas) 16-6 48

Others Receiving Votes: Philander Smith (Ark.) 40; Missouri Valley 39; Westmont (Calif.) 36; William Carey (Miss.) 23; Wiley (Texas) 19; Montana Tech 7; Central Methodist (Mo.) 3; LSU Shreveport (La.) 3.