A seven-game win streak from the Mary Hardin-Baylor women’s basketball team launched the Crusaders into the most recent edition of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Top 25 Poll, which was released on Tuesday.
The Cru, who are 7-1 overall, tied with Mary Washington for the 25th spot in the ranking, as each garnered 19 points from the panel of 10 voters. UMHB is off to a 3-0 start in American Southwest Conference action, having beaten LeTourneau and East Texas Baptist in a pair of league wins this past week.
It marks UMHB’s debut in the WBCA Poll this season, the Crusaders’ first under head coach Katie Novak-Lenoir. While UMHB was included in the “receiving votes” category of the national poll for the last three weeks, as well as in the Oct. 31 preseason poll, The Cru saw a significant jump in this week’s ranking, going from just five points last week to 19 this week. Additionally, UMHB earned the second-most points of any unranked team in Monday’s D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, with 29.
Hardin-Simmons joins UMHB as the two representatives from the ASC who are ranked in this week’s WBCA Top 25. HSU, who also holds a 7-1 record, is ranked No. 12 in the nation.
The Crusaders look to maintain their perfect record in league play on the road this week, as UMHB battles Howard Payne on Thursday in Brownwood, Texas, and then travels further west for a Saturday afternoon tilt against Sul Ross State. A pair of non-conference games follow that trip, as UMHB heads to New York City for a Dec. 19 matchup against Berry and a Dec. 20 duel against Millsaps.
The Crusaders are off to a 7-1 start for the fourth time since the 2018-19 season.
Dec. 12 WBCA Top 25 Poll
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