Tuesday, January 24, 2006

MORAVIAN WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM FALLS EIGHT SPOTS TO 24TH IN SEVENTH USA TODAY/ESPN DIVISION III TOP 25 COACHES’ POLL

LILBURN, GA --- The Moravian College women’s basketball team, which is off to a 13-3 start, fell eight spots to 24th in the nation in the seventh USA Today/ESPN Division III Top 25 Coaches’ Poll announced Tuesday by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. The complete poll can be viewed at http://www.wbca.org/DIIICoachesPoll.asp.

The Greyhounds, under the direction of 19-year head coach Mary Beth Spirk, received votes in the coaches’ preseason poll but were not ranked in the Top 25 before debuting at 21st in the first regular season poll and moving up to 18th in the second poll. The Greyhounds dropped one spot to 19th in the third poll before moving back up to 18th three weeks ago. Moravian reached the 15th place two week ago before falling to 16th last week. Moravian has won 13 of its first 16 games of the year by an average of 13.2 points, and the team has begun its 2005-06 Commonwealth Conference season with a 4-2 mark.

The University of Southern Maine is the top team in the poll by receiving six first place votes and 195 points while the University of Scranton is second with 187 points.

Moravian suffered a 67-62 loss to Scranton on December 7th in Johnston Hall. The Greyhounds will play 14th-ranked Messiah twice during the Commonwealth Conference season, in Johnston Hall on January 25th and in Grantham on February 11th. Both games are slated to begin at 6:00 p.m. Moravian also has a game scheduled at home for Thursday, February 2nd against rival Muhlenberg College, which received votes in this week’s poll.

Moravian will return to action in a Commonwealth Conference game versus Messiah College on Wednesday, January 25th in Johnston Hall at 6:00 p.m.