SPRINGFIELD, Mo.– The Drury Lady Panthers jumped 11 spots this week’s NCAA-II coaches’ poll to a number six national ranking. Drury is 6-0 and 1-0 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference after an 81-56 win at Quincy on Monday night. Drury was 17th in the national poll last week but moved up to number six in this week’s poll.
Defending national champion Ashland received all 23 first-place votes and is ranked number one, Grand Valley State is ranked second, and Central Missouri is third.
Four teams from the Midwest Region are ranked in the top seven nationally with Ashland first, Grand Valley State second, the Lady Panthers sixth and Ferris State ranked seventh. Drury is the only GLVC team in this week’s top 25.
The Lady Panthers return to action on Thursday at Lewis. The Flyers were voted as the preseason favorite in the conference preseason coaches poll and are 3-2 with a 2-0 mark in the GLVC. Both teams played one another twice in the postseason last year as Drury faced the Flyers in the GLVC Tournament championship game and the opening round of the NCAA-II Tournament. The Lady Panthers won both of those meetings in addition to the two games in the regular season. Thursday’s tipoff is at 5:30 pm in Romeoville, Illinois.
| Rank | School (Record) | Total Points |
First-Place Votes |
Last Week’s Rank |
| 1 | Ashland (5-0) | 575 | 23 | 1 |
| 2 | Grand Valley State (5-0) | 548 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Central Missouri (5-0) | 509 | 0 | 5 |
| 4 | Catawba (3-0) | 497 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | Union, TN (6-0) | 486 | 0 | 7 |
| 6 | Drury (5-0) | 406 | 0 | 17 |
| 7 | Ferris State (3-0) | 400 | 0 | 11 |
| 8 | Thomas Jefferson (6-0) | 365 | 0 | 19 |
| 9 | Gannon (7-1) | 339 | 0 | 16 |
| 10 | California, PA (4-0) | 294 | 0 | 20 |
| 11 | Assumption (3-1) | 271 | 0 | 4 |
| 12 | Tampa (6-2) | 267 | 0 | 15 |
| 13 | West Chester (4-1) | 243 | 0 | 6 |
| 14 | Texas Woman’s (6-1) | 231 | 0 | 9 |
| 15 | Western Washington (5-1) | 226 | 0 | 21 |
| 16 | Bentley (4-1) | 209 | 0 | 8 |
| 17 | Montana State Billings (6-2) | 193 | 0 | 10 |
| 18 | Southern Nazarene (6-0) | 170 | 0 | RV |
| 19 | Glenville State (4-1) | 162 | 0 | 22 |
| 20 | Minnesota Duluth (4-1) | 149 | 0 | 25 |
| 21 | Anderson, SC (5-0) | 140 | 0 | RV |
| 22 | Fort Hays State (4-0) | 122 | 0 | RV |
| 23 | Missouri Western State (4-1) | 112 | 0 | 12 |
| 24 | Regis, CO (5-1) | 86 | 0 | 12 |
| 25 | Fairmont State (5-0) | 52 | 0 | RV |
Dropped out: No. 13 Eckerd (3-2); No. 13 West Virginia State (3-2); No. 23 Wingate (4-2); No. 24 Azusa Pacific (6-3).
Others receiving votes: Lubbock Christian (5-2) 34; Colorado Mesa (6-1) 29; Virginia State (5-0) 28; Colorado Mines (5-1) 26; West Georgia (4-0) 26; Azusa Pacific (6-3) 25; Eckerd (3-2) 24; Texas A&M International (7-0) 23; North Georgia (4-1) 21; Cal State San Marcos (3-2) 16; Carson-Newman (4-1) 16; Augusta (4-0) 15; Miles (3-1) 15; West Virginia State (3-2) 12; Cal State L.A. (3-1) 11; Harding (4-1) 9; West Florida (4-1) 8; Pittsburg State (5-0) 7; Wingate (4-2) 6; Northwestern Oklahoma State (6-0) 5.
