Wildcats, Lady Tigers, Lady Lions All Top-5 in Newest NAIA Ranking

1/14/2026 2:47:40 PM

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Following a month of play, the Bethel (Tenn.) Wildcats, the Campbellsville (Ky.) Lady Tigers, and the Freed-Hardeman Lady Tigers earn top-five placements in the NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Wednesday.

The #2 Wildcats slipped a single spot following their close January 3rd loss to (RV) Tennessee Southern. Even so, Bethel came in just three voting points from retaining the pinnacle position. The Wildcats' Micah Hart was just announced as Mid-South Conference Offensive Player of the Week this week, averaging 26.5 points and 6.5 rebounds. Her sister, senior Madison Hart, is returning to form after an injury sidelined her for the first part of the season.

The #3 Lady Tigers of Campbellsville University also suffered their first loss of the season since the prior poll, falling to #9 Dakota Wesleyan at the Shark Tank in Honolulu, Hawaii. In their two contests since, Campbellsville has reponded with an 85-point victory against Carolina University and a 30-point win over conference-rival (RV) Lindsey Wilson. In their first MSC game of the year, the Lady Tigers had four players score 10 or more, led by sophomore Dea Bradley who had a team-high 16 points.

The #5 Lady Lions are still undefeated, accumulating two conference wins since the last national ranking. Freed-Hardeman first bested (RV) Georgetown (Ky.) by two points before defeating #14 Cumberlands (Ky.) by nine points. Whereas Bethel's Hart most recently earned MSC Offensive Player of the Week, the Lady Lions' Rachel Satterly was awarded the conference's defensive honor. The senior guard snagged five steals in the team's win over the Patriots.

The #14 Cumberlands Patriots most recently suffered the aforementioned nine-point loss to Freed-Hardeman. Before that, the Patriots suffered a five-point defeat at the hands of the Bethel Wildcats.

The Georgetown Tigers, Cumberland (Tenn.) Phoenix, and the Lindsey Wilson Blue Raiders all received votes in the rating.

Dordt (Iowa) reclaimed the #1 spot with nine first-place votes and 522 voting points. Marian (Ind.) came in fourth with one first-place vote and 479 voting points.

The fifth regular-season poll is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, January 28.

Poll Methodology

  • The national poll is for publicity purposes only and does not influence the selection process for national championship consideration.
  • A panel of head coaches representing each conference and the Continental Athletic Conference (Independents) votes in the poll.
  • The Top 25 teams are selected using a points-based system:
    • 30 points for a 1st-place vote, 29 for 2nd, 28 for 3rd, and so on.
  • The highest and lowest rankings received by each team are discarded before final tallying.
  • Teams receiving only one point are not listed as “receiving votes.”