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Frontier Conference Notebook
Natalee Faupel and the Montana State University-Northern Skylights are ranked No. 15 in the new NAIA Coaches Poll. Faupel and the Skylights have two more road games this week, as they travel to UGF Thursday night and Carroll College on Saturday. Northern returns home for the final two games of the season against UM-Western and Rocky Mountain College.
For teams that don’t win their respective conference championships, the NAIA Men’s and Women’s Coaches Poll are very important. The polls dictate the at-large berths to the NAIA national tourney.
And that’s why the Frontier’s presence in the last regular season polls, released Tuesday, are such a big deal. The next poll won’t be released until the day after conference play ends, so, teams that are positioned in the polls right now are in good shape with two weeks to go.
That’s the case for the Montana State University-Northern Skylights. Northern has been in the Top 25 all season long, and despite two losses on the road last weekend, the Skylights are garnering plenty of respect among raters. Northern comes in the new NAIA Poll at No. 15, sliding just four spots after the losses to Lewis-Clark State and Montana Tech. Of course, the Skylights primary goal is to win a Frontier championship, but should they not accomplish that feat, their position in the poll as it stands now, gives MSU-N a strong chance of returning to the national tourney for the fourth straight season.
LC State also dropped in the women’s poll, following last week’s loss to Carroll College. The Warriors dropped from No. 2 to No. 4 in the new poll, while UM-Western moved up two slots to No. 20. Carroll is receiving votes in the poll.
On the men’s side, Carroll College remained at No. 8 in the new poll, despite two losses in the last two weeks. UM-Western also didn’t move in the new poll, staying at No. 13. LC State’s men just missed out on the Top 25, instead, they are ranked No. 26 as the highest receiving votes team outside the Top 25, while the Northern men reappeared in the receiving votes this week.
Of course, a lot can happen over the next two weeks, so, when Frontier play ends, and the first of two postseason polls comes out Feb. 28, expect things to look significantly different than they do right now for many Frontier teams.
Making a Push
In some ways, the Frontier Preseason Polls have come to fruition. In others, they haven’t. But, as the regular season draws to a close, there are teams who are making a late-season surge.
On the women’s side, Carroll College was picked fourth in the Frontier, and the Saints started January ranked in the NAIA Top 25. However, Carroll dipped to 2-6 at one point in the Frontier standings. Now, however, the Fighting Saints are on a roll. They’ve won six of their last seven, and they are the only team in the conference to beat LC State this season. And Carroll isn’t alone. Montana Tech’s stock is rising, too. The Orediggers swept UGF and Northern this past weekend, and are now 7-8 in league with just three games left. If Carroll and Tech keep winning, they both certainly still have an excellent chance of getting into the national tourney field next month in Billings.
On the men’s side, Northern is one of the teams that’s charging. The Lights went 3-1 over their last four road games, and they’ve put themselves right back in contention for an at-large berth to the national tourney. Rocky has also come on strong as of late, with a big win over Carroll last weekend. The Battlin’ Bears are fifth in the league standings, but with four games left they, too, can make a bold statement down the stretch.
Perhaps no team, though, has pushed harder than the LC State men in recent weeks. The Warriors are 8-1 over their last nine games, and now, they’re not just pushing to make the postseason, they’re in contention to win the Frontier’s regular season title for the second straight year.
Frontier Honors
Rocky Mountain’s Zach Hinton was named Frontier Men’s Player of the Week. Hinton is a 6 -6 senior forward from Los Angeles, California. In addition to his Frontier Conference honors, Hinton was also named the NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Player of the Week. Rocky Mountain won two games over the weekend. The Bears downed No. 8 Carroll College 82-79 and No. 13 Montana Western 80-72. Hinton averaged 16.5 points and 10.5 rebounds. He was 12 of 25 from the field and 7 of 8 from the free throw line.
Montana Tech’s Kourtney Coverdell was named Frontier Women’s Player of the Week. Coverdell is a 5-8 sophomore guard from Fairfield. Montana Tech won a pair of home games over the weekend. The Orediggers upset No. 11 MSU-Northern 54-49 and downed the University of Great Falls 68-64 in overtime. Coverdell averaged 16.5 points and 3.5 rebounds. She was 13 of 24 from the field (54 percent), 5 of 10 3-point field goals (50 percent) and 2 of 4 from the free throw line.
Northern's Natalee Faupel and Tyler Chandler were nominated this week.
NAIA Women's Coaches Poll
Rnk. Prv. Rec. Pts.
1 1 Freed-Hardeman 25-0 250
2 4 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 24-0 242
3 5 Vanguard (Calif.) 24-1 232
4 2 Lewis-Clark State 24-1 228
5 6 Shawnee State (Ohio) 25-2 215
6 3 Westmont (Calif.) 21-3 208
7 7 Oklahoma City 22-2 206
8 10 Baker (Kan.) 22-4 188
9 8 Campbellsville (Ky.) 23-4 187
10 9 Lyon (Ark.) 21-3 184
11 12 Benedictine (Kan.) 20-6 165
12 13 Columbia (Mo.) 22-4 164
13 16 Wayland Baptist 21-3 152
14 17 Bethel (Tenn.) 19-7 143
15 11 MSU-Northern 18-7 141
16 18 Our Lady of the Lake 19-7 119
T17 19 Biola (Calif.) 19-6 115
T17 20 John Brown (Ark.) 18-7 115
19 15 Cumberland (Tenn.) 15-7 114
20 22 Montana Western 20-5 100
21 21 The Master's (Calif.) 18-6 97
22 23 Pikeville (Ky.) 18-8 71
23 24 Lindenwood-Belleville 17-7 69
24 14 Central Methodist 18-8 68
25 RV Martin Methodist 20-6 60
Others receiving votes: Loyola (La.) 53; MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 37; Talladega (Ala.) 26; Carroll (Mont.) 24; LSU Shreveport (La.) 17; Harris-Stowe State (Mo.) 7; William Woods (Mo.) 6; Clarke (Iowa) 5.
NAIA Men's Coaches Poll
Rnk. Prv. Rec. Pts.
1 1 LSU Alexandria (La.) 25-0 250
2 2 William Penn (Iowa) 22-3 239
3 5 Columbia (Mo.) 24-2 236
4 6 Biola (Calif.) 24-3 225
5 4 Dalton State (Ga.) 20-3 215
6 3 Georgetown (Ky.) 21-4 212
7 11 Dillard (La.) 19-5 200
8 8 Carroll (Mont.) 21-5 191
9 10 Cumberlands (Ky.) 21-5 183
10 RV Hope International 21-5 179
11 9 Texas Wesleyan 19-6 169
12 17 LSU Shreveport (La.) 18-6 151
13 13 Montana Western 20-6 142
T14 24 Benedictine (Kan.) 20-6 135
T14 14 Pikeville (Ky.) 21-6 135
16 12 Westmont (Calif.) 20-5 134
17 19 William Carey (Miss.) 17-5 113
18 23 The Master's (Calif.) 20-4 112
19 18 Oklahoma City 18-6 105
20 7 Wiley (Texas) 20-6 103
21 21 SAGU (Texas) 19-7 101
22 16 Talladega (Ala.) 18-8 87
23 RV Park (Mo.) 17-5 85
24 15 Grand View (Iowa) 18-7 77
25 25 Our Lady of the Lake 15-7 47
Others Receiving Votes: Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 44; Life (Ga.) 41; Martin Methodist (Tenn.) 30; Southwestern Christian (Okla.) 12; Central Baptist (Ark.) 11; Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 7; William Jessup (Calif.) 7; Graceland (Iowa) 7; Montana State-Northern 5; Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 3; Langston (Okla.) 3.
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