KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the third consecutive season, the Campbellsville University women's basketball team will enter the season ranked in the top five of the NAIA Top 25 Preseason Coaches' Poll as they come in to the 2020-21 season ranked No. 4.
This also marks the seventh-straight season the Lady Tigers have opened their season in the top 10 of the rankings, six of those seasons they have been in the top five and were ranked No. 1 prior to the 2015-16 season.
CU received 534 points in the poll to land behind No. 1 Westmont, No. 2 Wayland Baptist, and No. 3 Marian. The Lady Tigers faced two of those three ranked ahead of them as they earned victories over Westmont and Marian in non-conference play during the 2019-20 season.
Marian is also the highest ranked team that entered 2020-21 from the NAIA Division II ranks as the two-division system in the NAIA has been merged into one division. That merging will result in an expansion of the NAIA National Championship Tournament from a field of 32 to a field of 64 with the first two rounds being played at host sites before moving to the national site of Sioux City, Iowa.
The Lady Tigers are the highest ranked Mid-South Conference team with Shawnee State entering at No. 9, Bethel and Thomas More tied at No. 14, with Lindsey Wilson and Freed-Hardeman both in the receiving votes category.
Campbellsville went 29-3 overall last season with a 14-2 record in MSC play on their way to the regular season MSC title as they were selected as a No. 1 seed in the NAIA tournament before the cancellation of the tournament due to COVID-19.
CU will return 11 players from the 2019-20 roster including three starters in
Lexy Lake,
Courtney Pritchett, and 2019-20 NAIA All-American
Savannah Gregory. The Lady Tigers also return some of the best depth in the country in
Shyla Calbert,
Sammy Rogers,
Faith Lake,
Ashlee McGeorge,
Madison Sheppard,
Bailey Pedigo, and
Lashaya Carman, as some, if not all will see an increase in role from the previous season.
Along with the returning depth, the coaching staff retooled on the recruiting trail, adding transfer forward
Sarah Sutton and six freshmen in
Lauren Lee,
Maddie Nalley,
Gracie Thompson,
Elizabeth Bertram,
Madison Drummonds, and
Ashanti Gore.
The full NAIA Preseason Coaches' Poll is below:
| RANK |
LAST YEAR |
SCHOOL [FIRST PLACE VOTES] |
2019-20 RECORD |
POINTS |
| 1 |
1 (I) |
Westmont (Calif.) [17] |
27-3 |
586 |
| 2 |
2 (I) |
Wayland Baptist (Texas) [4] |
31-2 |
563 |
| 3 |
2 (II) |
Marian (Ind.) |
31-3 |
545 |
| 4 |
4 (I) |
Campbellsville (Ky.) |
29-3 |
534 |
| 5 |
5 (I) |
The Master's (Calif.) |
29-3 |
529 |
| 6 |
3 (I) |
Oklahoma City |
30-2 |
486 |
| 7 |
3 (II) |
Southeastern (Fla.) |
27-3 |
464 |
| 8 |
12 (II) |
Dordt (Iowa) |
24-8 |
438 |
| 9 |
8 (I) |
Shawnee State (Ohio) |
29-4 |
437 |
| 10 |
9 (I) |
Vanguard (Calif.) |
23-6 |
416 |
| 11 |
1 (II) |
Concordia (Neb.) |
32-2 |
413 |
| 12 |
5 (II) |
College of the Ozarks (Mo.) |
29-4 |
343 |
| 13 |
20 (I) |
Clarke (Iowa) |
25-7 |
327 |
| 14 |
6 (I) |
Bethel (Tenn.) |
29-4 |
302 |
| 14 |
21 (I) |
Thomas More (Ky.) |
22-10 |
302 |
| 16 |
8 (II) |
St. Francis (Ill.) |
29-5 |
276 |
| 17 |
6 (I) |
Central Methodist (Mo.) |
31-2 |
274 |
| 18 |
11 (I) |
Lyon (Ark.) |
29-3 |
268 |
| 19 |
10 (I) |
Talladega (Ala.) |
28-5 |
247 |
| 20 |
17 (I) |
Carroll (Mont.) |
21-10 |
198 |
| 21 |
15 (I) |
Columbia (Mo.) |
25-7 |
179 |
| 22 |
6 (II) |
Indiana Tech |
30-4 |
155 |
| 23 |
9 (II) |
Saint Xavier (Ill.) |
29-5 |
154 |
| 24 |
10 (II) |
Morningside (Iowa) |
23-10 |
146 |
| 25 |
13 (I) |
Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) |
26-6 |
144 |
Receiving Votes: Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 122, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 102, Indiana Wesleyan 98, Bryan (Tenn.) 73, Loyola (La.) 71, Providence (Mont.) 50, WVU Tech (W.Va.) 42, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 27, Sterling (Kan.) 25, Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 12, Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 6, Union (Ky.) 4, Antelope Valley (Calif.) 3, Rust (Miss.) 3, Bushnell (Ore.) 3
CU women's basketball is scheduled to begin 2020-21 on the road on Nov. 7 against West Virginia Tech before hosting Union College at home on Nov. 9. Mid-South Conference play will begin on Nov. 19 with the Lady Tigers open on the road against University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Ky.
