LILIBURN, Ga. — The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team finished No. 22 in the final Women's Basketball Coaches Poll of the season. For the second straight season the Golden Bears have finished the season ranked in the final WBCA poll, after finishing the season as the No.13-ranked team last season.
CSP finished the season with a 26-7 record, winning 20 or more games for the second straight season for the first time since the 2012-13 and 2013-14 season. The Golden Bears also won the NSIC Tournament for the second year in a row and made their first Central Region Championship appearance since the 2013-14 season, tying a program record 18 game winning streak in the process.
The Golden Bears were one of three NSIC teams to finish the season ranked in the poll. Minnesota State finished as the No.11-ranked team with 292 points in the poll after falling in the Central Region Quarterfinals to eventual Central Region Champions Minnesota Duluth who finished ranked as the No.12-ranked team after a trip to the Elite Eight. The Bulldogs received 280 votes in the final poll.
CSP received 128 points in the poll to finish as the No.22-ranked team in the country.
Grand Valley State claimed the top spot in the WBCA Poll after winning the National Championship for the second straight season, the Lakers received 575 points and 23 first place votes in the poll.
WBCA Rankings
|
Rank
|
School (Record)
|
Points
|
Rank in Last Poll
|
First-Place Votes
|
|
1
|
Grand Valley State (36-1)
|
575
|
2
|
23
|
|
2
|
Indiana, PA (31-4)
|
542
|
4
|
0
|
|
3
|
Colorado Mesa (37-2)
|
503
|
3
|
0
|
|
4
|
Alabama-Huntsville (32-6)
|
480
|
25t
|
0
|
|
5
|
Cal Poly Pomona (29-5)
|
457
|
8
|
0
|
|
6
|
Texas Woman's (31-2)
|
437
|
1
|
0
|
|
7
|
Holy Family (30-5)
|
356
|
21
|
0
|
|
8
|
Gannon (29-5)
|
331
|
7
|
0
|
|
9
|
Winston-Salem State (28-4)
|
301
|
13
|
0
|
|
10
|
Daemen (26-4)
|
296
|
9
|
0
|
|
11
|
Minnesota State Mankato (29-3)
|
292
|
5
|
0
|
|
12
|
Minnesota Duluth (23-9)
|
280
|
NR
|
0
|
|
13
|
West Texas A&M (28-5)
|
278
|
6
|
0
|
|
14
|
Nova Southeastern (28-5)
|
275
|
10
|
0
|
|
15
|
Carson-Newman (24-11)
|
242
|
NR
|
0
|
|
16
|
Fort Hays State (25-6)
|
203
|
14
|
0
|
|
17
|
Bentley (23-5)
|
201
|
11
|
0
|
|
18
|
Lenoir-Rhyne (26-6)
|
192
|
18
|
0
|
|
19
|
Lincoln Memorial (26-5)
|
160
|
15
|
0
|
|
20
|
Coker (26-7)
|
148
|
17
|
0
|
|
21
|
Northwood (28-6)
|
140
|
23
|
0
|
|
22
|
Concordia-St. Paul (26-7)
|
128
|
22
|
0
|
|
23
|
Columbus State (25-5)
|
117
|
12
|
0
|
|
24
|
Ferris State (26-7)
|
96
|
16
|
0
|
|
25
|
Central Washington (25-7)
|
82
|
25t
|
0
|
Dropped Out: No. 19 Miles (25-6); No. 20 Harding (24-7); No. 24 Northern Michigan (25-8).
Others receiving votes: Miles (25-6) 68; Harding (24-7) 46; Eckerd (25-7) 43; Missouri-St. Louis (25-6) 41; Wayne State, MI (24-8) 24; Central Missouri (26-7) 18; Northern Michigan (25-8) 16; Southern Connecticut State (25-6) 15; Vanguard (25-6) 9; Northwestern Oklahoma State (22-10) 8; Edward Waters (23-6) 7; Western Washington (25-8) 5.
9 teams mentioned on only one ballot for a total of 62 combined points.
The WBCA NCAA Division II Coaches Poll Committee is composed of one head coach from each of the 23 NCAA Division II conferences. The committee for the 2025-26 season: LaSheena Brooks, Shorter; Mario Caetano, Adams State; Kevin Clifford, Roberts Wesleyan; Kyle Cooper, West Liberty; Carmen Dolfo, Western Washington; Charity Elliott, Point Loma Nazarene; Steve Fagan, Felician; Darin Grover, Southeastern Oklahoma; Sarah Hopkins-Chery, Cal State Monterey Bay; Matt Houser, Columbus State; Beth Jillson, Texas Woman's; Mike Mincey, Carson-Newman; Kerry Phayre, Assumption; Ashlee Phillips, Auburn Montgomery; Kari Pickens, Ashland; Jenny Pruett, Saginaw Valley State; Ashley Raley-Ross, Florida Tech; James Rice, Benedict; Jess Strom, California University (Pa.); Ebony Tanner, Elizabeth City State; Katie Vaughn, Missouri-St. Louis; Tom Webb, Southwest Minnesota State; Lora Westling, Washburn.
