LILBURN, Ga. - The Fort Hays State women's basketball team cracked the top 10 of the latest WBCA Division II Coaches Poll, with the Tigers slotted 10th in the latest release announced Tuesday (Jan. 2). The Tigers are up six spots from the previous poll and are now the highest-ranked MIAA team in the country.
The Tigers are in the WBCA Top 25 for the fifth straight week. They return to the top 10 for a sixth-straight season, which dates back to 2018-19. Fort Hays State was last ranked among the top 10 in the preseason poll of the 2022-23 season. FHSU opened that year No. 3 in the country after spending the entirety of the 2021-22 campaign inside the top 10.
This is the 99th time Fort Hays State has been listed inside a top 25 weekly release and the 68th week the Tigers have been inside the top 10. FHSU is 152-39 all-time when ranked and 112-23 all-time when ranked inside the top 10.
The Tigers are the top-ranked MIAA program this week, one spot and just one point in front of Thursday's opponent, No. 11 Central Missouri. Pittsburg State is up to 16th this week, while Northwest Missouri State is the lone conference rival in the receiving votes category.
The Tigers and Jennies will face off in a ranked opponent battle Thursday evening (Jan. 4, 5:30 p.m.) inside Gross Memorial Coliseum before FHSU wraps up the weekend homestand against Lincoln on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 6, 2 p.m.).
For the time being, Fort Hays State will remain No. 23 in the D2CSC Top 25 Poll. Pittsburg State is No. 13 and Central Missouri is No. 17 in that poll, which last released on December 19. The next edition of that poll will release on January 9.
WBCA DII Coaches Poll - January 2, 2024
Rank - School (1st) - W-L - Pts. - Last
1 - Grand Valley State (20) - 10-1 - 547 - 1
2 - Ashland (1) - 10-1 - 521 - 2
3 - Gannon (1) - 13-1 - 499 - 3
4 - Catawba - 8-1 - 475 - 4
5 - Ferris State - 6-1 - 464 - 6
6 - Union (Tenn.) - 12-1 - 445 - 8
7 - Southern Nazarene - 10-0 - 392 - 10
8 - Thomas Jefferson - 10-1 - 385 - 11
9 - Colorado Mines - 11-1 - 320 - 15
10 - Fort Hays State - 11-1 - 293 - 16
11 - Central Missouri - 9-2 - 292 - 14
12 - Fairmont State - 10-1 - 242 - 17
13 - Virginia State - 11-1 - 224 - 19
14 - Western Washington - 9-2 - 210 - 20
15 - Tampa - 12-3 - 206 - 7
16 - Pittsburg State - 11-1 - 205 - 22
17 - Montana State Billings - 11-3 - 156 - 21
18 - Texas Woman's - 10-3 - 150 - 5
19 - Northwestern Oklahoma State - 11-1 - 144 - 23
20 - Harding - 9-1 - 135 - RV
21 - West Chester - 8-3 - 116 - 9
22 - Bentley - 8-2 - 112 - 12
23 - Valdosta State - 9-2 - 83 - 25
24 - Assumption - 8-2 - 64 - RV
25 - Texas A&M International - 11-2 - 53 - RV
Dropped Out: No. 15 California (Pa.) (8-3); No. 18 Drury (8-3); No. 24 North Georgia (7-3).
Receiving Votes: Drury (8-3) 50; Califiornia (Pa.) (8-3) 44; Fayetteville State (10-1) 39; Azusa Pacific (10-3) 38; Pace (10-1) 35; Minnesota State Mankato (9-4) 28; Miles (7-1) 25; Georgia Southwestern (7-1) 24; Glenville State (8-4) 16; Texas-Tyler (11-3) 16; North Georgia (7-3) 14; Northwest Missouri State (10-2) 13; Anderson (S.C.) (9-2) 12; Holy Family (12-1) 10; Lee (Tenn.) (9-2) 5.