Thomas More women hang on to No. 1 spot, men jump up to No. 16

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By Thomas More Athletics

Despite their first loss of the season since the last poll came out, the Thomas More University women’s basketball team hung on to the top spot in the latest NAIA Coaches’ Poll.

Thomas More came in with 580 points and garnered 10 first place votes, edging out Central Methodist University’s (Mo.) 579 points and 10 first place votes.

The Saints suffered their first loss of the season to the No. 3 ranked Campbellsville University Tigers, a 70-59 loss on the road. They added home wins over Lindsey Wilson (57-51) and Wilberforce (90-44) in that span.

In the three games, Zoie Barth and Emily Simon led the team. Barth had 18 against the Blue Raiders with three assists. She then tied a season-high with 22 points at Campbellsville, before dishing out a season-high eight assists against Wilberforce.

Simon has been incredibly consistent over the last five games. Senior Courtney Hurst also knocked down a season-high six threes in the win against the Bulldogs.

Thomas More and Campbellsville have lapped the field in the Mid-South Conference standings, leading Cumberlands and Pikeville by four games. However, with the two teams tied at the top of the standings, it will be a battle over the final four games to see who wins the regular season crown and the coveted No. 1 seed in the Mid-South Conference tournament.

The Saints host the Bethel (Tenn.) Thursday afternoon at 5:30 p.m. before Senior Day on Saturday afternoon against Freed-Hardeman at 1 p.m.

MEN JUMP FIVE SPOTS

The Thomas More University men’s basketball team jumped five spots in the latest NAIA Coaches’ Poll to No. 16 in the country.

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The Saints have won four straight since the last poll to improve to 19-5 overall and 13-5 in the Mid-South. They beat Lindsey Wilson (72-64) at home, went to Campbellsville and blew out the Tigers (79-51), and then beat Miami-Middletown (82-60) and Wilberforce (83-69) at home.

During these four games, the Saints put together five double-doubles, with two coming from Casey George and two from Kyle Ross. The other came from Reid Jolly. Jolly now has six double-doubles this season, George has four, and Ross has three.

Thomas More is tied for second in the MSC standings with Freed-Hardeman with four games to play in the conference schedule. The Saints and Lions trail Georgetown by one game.

After hosting Bethel(Tenn.) Thursday night at 7:30 p.m., Thomas More has a huge game with Freed-Hardeman on Senior Day on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. Every game for the rest of the season will have huge conference tournament seeding implications.

2022-23 NAIA Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll Six (February 8, 2023)

RANKLAST TIMETEAMS [FIRST-PLACE VOTES]RECORDPOINTS
11Thomas More (Ky.) [10]23-1580
22Central Methodist (Mo.) [10]23-0579
33Campbellsville (Ky.) [1]23-1557
44Dordt (Iowa)23-1527
55Westmont (Calif.)20-1522
66Marian (Ind.)23-2495
77Indiana Wesleyan22-3475
88Clarke (Iowa)21-3441
910Loyola (La.)21-1431
109Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)22-2429
1111Carroll (Mont.)20-5419
1214Vanguard (Calif.)18-4358
1313Rio Grande (Ohio)21-3353
1416Eastern Oregon21-2344
1515Montana Western21-4332
1612Indiana Tech20-4317
1717Texas Wesleyan20-3290
1819Science & Arts (Okla.)21-3245
19NRJamestown (N.D.)19-5186
20NRCumberlands (Ky.)19-5180
2124Sterling (Kan.)20-4168
2222Rocky Mountain (Mont.)17-7167
2318Briar Cliff (Iowa)17-7157
24NRMid-America Christian (Okla.)20-4132
2521Pikeville (Ky.)18-6121

Dropped from the Poll: Southern Oregon, Rust (Miss.), Northwestern (Iowa) 

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Receiving Votes: Southern Oregon 115, Dakota State (S.D.) 102, Rust (Miss.) 90, IU South Bend (Ind.) 92, Texas A&M Texarkana 54, Menlo (Calif.) 48, Concordia (Neb.) 30, Bryan (Tenn.) 18, Northwestern (Iowa) 15, Grace (Ind.) 12, Midway (Ky.) 8, Siena Heights (Mich.) 8, Faulkner (Ala.) 6, Grand View (Iowa) 5, Philander Smith (Ark.) 3, Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 3, Florida Memorial 3, IU Northwest (Ind.) 3 

2022-23 NAIA Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll Six (February 8, 2023)

RANKLAST WEEKSCHOOL [1st Place Votes]RECORDFINAL POINTS
11College of Idaho [20]22-1560
24Arizona Christian21-4522
35Union (Ky.)22-1509
47Grace (Ind.)22-3507
53Langston (Okla.)22-2482
68Indiana Tech21-3461
79William Penn (Iowa)21-2456
82Oklahoma Wesleyan22-3452
911Jamestown (N.D.)22-3427
1010Georgetown (Ky.)20-4412
1112Montana Tech21-4350
1213Kansas Wesleyan21-3346
136Indiana Wesleyan18-7325
1420Florida College22-3321
1415Loyola (La.)19-4321
1622Thomas More (Ky.)19-5290
1716Faulkner (Ala.)20-4258
18RVHuntington (Ind.)19-6202
19RVLSU Shreveport (La.)19-5201
2021Southwestern (Kan.)19-5168
2125Antelope Valley (Calif.)21-1158
2214Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)17-7151
2323Iowa Wesleyan22-2147
2419Evangel (Mo.)19-5136
2518Morningside (Iowa)17-692

Dropped from the Top 25: Texas A&M Texarkana, Marian (Ind.)

Others Receiving Votes: Texas A&M Texarkana 83, Saint Xavier (Ill.) 82, Dordt (Iowa) 74, The Master’s (Calif.) 71, Tougaloo (Miss.) 35, Wayland Baptist (Texas) 29, St. Thomas (Fla.) 28, Madonna (Mich.) 25, Marian (Ind.) 23, Rio Grande (Ohio) 22, Mayville State (N.D.) 19, Eastern Oregon 14, Hope International (Calif.) 12, Montana State-Northern 10, Ottawa (Ariz.) 8, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 8, Tennessee Southern 5, Thomas (Ga.) 3, Corban (Ore.) 3, IU Kokomo (Ind.) 3.

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