Pride women's basketball continues Top 10 season now at No. 6 in NAIA Coaches' Poll

Pride women's basketball continues Top 10 season now at No. 6 in NAIA Coaches' Poll
November 30, 2022

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - In today's release of the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll, the Clarke University women's basketball team maintained their top 10 status at the No. 6 spot in this second poll release of the 2022-23 season.

The voting reflects the Pride's 6-1 record prior to their Tuesday night win over Graceland University as CU just slid one spot down following their loss to then No. 6 and now the new No. 4 in the poll Central Methodist University last Saturday.

The full top five ahead of Clarke at No. 6 is the defending NAIA Champions Thomas More University at No. 1, the 2021 NAIA Champions Westmont College at No. 2, Campbellsville University at No. 3, CMU at No. 4 and the 2022 NAIA Tournament Runner-Up Dordt University at No. 5 as the Defenders jumped from No. 13 in the previous poll to No. 5 after an 8-0 start to their season.

Now through their first eight games, the Pride are averaging just shy of 72 points per game at 71.9 while shooting 44.2 percent from the field as they have held their opponents to 56.3 points per game and 34 percent shooting from the field. Since their tight, one-point win over Briar Cliff University they have averaged a double-digit margin of victory since, including their 21-point win over Grand View and a 42-point win last night over Graceland.

Individually, three players for Clarke are averaging double figures led by junior guard Nicole McDermott who currently sits at 13.1 points per game over a team-high 29.0 minutes per game. McDermott is shooting 45.7 percent from the field and 85.2 percent from the free throw line while being the team's second leading rebounder at 5.5 rebounds per game.

Emma Kelchen and Taylor Haase have provided a strong one-two punch in the post for CU with both averaging over 11 points per game with Kelchen just ahead at 11.9 points per game compared to Haase's 11.8 points per game. Kelchen is the team's leading rebounder at 6.1 point per game as she has rounded back into her All Conference First Team form after a bit of a slow start to her 2022-23 campaign.

Clarke women's basketball will continue into the early part of the Heart of America Athletic Conference schedule as their next game is this Saturday on the road against MidAmerica Nazarene University for a 2:00 p.m. CT tip in Olathe, Kan. before having a break for CU finals week.