KANSAS CITY, Mo — Montana Western has gotten off to an 11-0 start this women’s basketball season, and the Bulldogs continue to be rewarded for their efforts.
On Monday, Brianna King was named the Frontier Conference player of the week for the second consecutive week. On Wednesday, the Bulldogs were ranked fourth in the latest edition of the NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, leading five Frontier Conference teams in the rankings. Western was previously ranked ninth.
Coach Lindsay Woolley’s Bulldogs our coming off two lopsided wins at the Green and Gold Classic in Billings. They topped Dickinson State 103-56 on Dec. 28 and The Kings’ University 79-40 on Dec. 29. Those two wins came on the heels of an impressive showing in Arizona, where Western notched wins over then-No. 12 Our Lady of the Lake University and then-No. 14 Menlo College.
Western, which is 2-0 in Frontier Conference play, returns to its league schedule on Friday at Montana State-Northern.
In addition to Western, Carroll College, Providence, Lewis-Clark State and Rocky Mountain College are also ranked in the top 25. The Saints (11-3 overall) held steady at No. 8 and Providence (11-3) stayed at No. 13. L-C State (11-2) went from unranked to 16th, while Rocky (11-3) slipped from 18th to No. 22.
Carroll College ended 2018 with a 65-49 win over Montana Tech and next travels to Billings to face Rocky Mountain College on Thursday.
Providence, meanwhile, has a big weekend ahead, hosting L-C State on Friday and Western on Saturday.
Western is just one of two undefeated teams in the top 25. Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) is the other and moves to the top of the rankings this week, receiving all nine first-place votes. Columbia (Mo.) are MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) second and third, respectively. Vanguard (Calif.) rounds out the top five after losing two games to fall from the No. 1 ranking.
To view the complete NAIA women’s basketball top 25, please click here.
