MORAVIAN WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM UP TO 17TH IN LATEST D3HOOPS.COM TOP 25 POLL

MINNEAPOLIS, MN --- The Moravian College women’s basketball team, which has a 16-2 overall record, moved back up four spots to 17th in the nation in the eighth D3hoop.com Top 25 Poll of the season announced late Monday.  The complete poll can be viewed at http://www.d3hoops.com/top25/.

The Greyhounds, under the direction of 22-year head coach Mary Beth Spirk, were ranked 21st last week after  being as high as 14th the previous week.  Moravian was 18th in the first poll of 2009 on January 5th, and the Greyhounds were 21st in the poll released on December 23rd after receiving votes in the first three weeks of the season.  The last time Moravian was nationally ranked by D3hoops.com was during the 2005-06 season when the team reached the NCAA Division III National Tournament. 

Moravian, which is 6-1 in Landmark Conference action, received 226 points in the poll this week, 84 more points than last week.

Illinois Wesleyan University moved into the top spot this week with 24 first place votes and 622 points after the University of Rochester lost its first game of the season and slipped to fifth in the poll.

One of Moravian’s two losses this season is an 80-58 setback at Rochester on November 22nd.  The Greyhounds defeated 14th-ranked DeSales University, 67-63 on November 25th in Johnston Hall with DeSales ranked ninth at the time of the game, and Moravian defeated then 14th-ranked Muhlenberg College, 98-87, December 15th in Allentown.  The Mules are currently ranked 22nd.  Moravian also has an 86-72 win over The College of New Jersey and a 57-45 triumph over The University of Scranton, both of which received votes in this week’s poll.

Moravian will return to action on Friday, January 30th when the Greyhounds travel to Susquehanna University in a Landmark Conference game at 5:30 p.m. in Selinsgrove.

The D3hoops.com Top 25 poll is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country, and is published weekly.