Pride remain ranked at No. 8 in first NAIA Coaches' Poll of 2023

Pride remain ranked at No. 8 in first NAIA Coaches' Poll of 2023
January 11, 2023

DUBUQUE, Iowa - For the first time since the calendar turned to 2023, the NAIA released their women's basketball Top 25 Coaches' Poll as the Clarke University women's basketball team lands in the No. 8 spot for the second-straight poll.

Having played five games since the last poll came out on Dec. 14, the Pride have gone 5-0 over that stretch to move their overall record to 13-2 with a current 7-2 record in the Heart of America Athletic Conference to sit fourth in the standings as of Jan. 11.

The three teams at the top of the NAIA poll are all unbeaten as the defending NAIA Tournament Champions Thomas More University remain at No. 1, where they have been all year, followed by Heart foe Central Methodist University jumping up to No. 2, and Dordt University ranked at No. 3.

The full rankings can be viewed here: https://www.naia.org/sports/wbkb/2022-23/Releases/4_National

The Pride have been consistent over their previous five games between rankings releases, winning each of their games by double figures scoring 65 or more points and holding opponents under 65. 

Senior Tina Ubl has been playing some of the best offensive basketball of her career, in the midst of a seven-game stretch of scoring double figures and lead in the team in scoring in each game that expands to eight of her last nine games. That stretch has boosted Ubl to lead the team in scoring average at 11.9 while also providing 5.3 rebounds per game, 2.2 steals per game, 1.6 assists per game, 0.5 blocks per game.

The junior combination of Nicole McDermott and Taylor Haase are the only other members of the Pride averaging double figures as of Jan. 11 with McDermott coming off of back-to-back double-doubles as she sits at 11.5 points per game and a team-high 6.8 rebounds per game as Haase averages 11.1 points per game while shooting a team-high 49.6 percent from the field.

Clarke will host Culver-Stockton College tonight at the Kehl Center for a 5:30 p.m. CT tip to begin a three-game homestand within Heart play.