After picking up its third Top 10 win of the season, the Fort Hays State Women’s Basketball team moved up to second in the most recent Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Top 25, released Tuesday (Feb. 10) by the organization. Ranked third last week with 701 points, FHSU gained 19 points (up to 735) in this week’s release after pushing its current win streak to 21 games.
FHSU (22-1, 14-0 MIAA) picked up another pair of rivalry wins last week, knocking off Nebraska-Kearney (69-52) Thursday before completing the regular season sweep over previously-No. 6 Emporia State with a 72-62 win on Saturday. ESU dropped to ninth in this week’s poll.
The Tigers are now 5-1 against ranked opponents this season and set a school record for consecutive wins in a single-season. The previous record was 20 games (set in 1990-91) and the longest ever streak ended that season and lasted into the 1991-92 campaign.
Currently, FHSU holds a two-game lead over Pittsburg State (No. 10) and a three-game lead over ESU in the conference standings. Two other MIAA teams, Washburn (15 votes) and Missouri Southern (one vote) are also listed in the poll.
With five MIAA games remaining on the year, FHSU has its eyes on its first-ever MIAA championship (regular season or tournament) and has already locked up a first round bye in the MIAA Tournament – automatically advancing the team to the quarterfinals in Kansas City in early March. Additionally, the Tigers are in the hunt for a berth to the NCAA Tournament. Next week (Feb. 18), the first of four official NCAA Regional Rankings are released as part of the run-up to the NCAA Central Regional, held March 13-15 at the top school in the region.
Fort Hays State is also ranked in the Top 5 of two other national polls – staying No. 1 in BennettRank and No. 2 in the Massey Ratings. More information on those polls can be found above.
FHSU travels to Pittsburg, Kan., this Saturday (Feb. 14) for the second game of the regular season between the Tigers and Gorillas.
The complete WBCA Top 25 for Feb. 10 is below…
| Rank | Institution – First Place Votes | Previous Rank | Record | Total Points |
| 1 | Lewis University (Ill.) – 31 | 1 | 23-0 | 799 |
| 2 | Fort Hays State University (Kan.) | 3 | 22-1 | 735 |
| 3 | University of Alaska – Anchorage | 2 | 22-1 | 722 |
| 4 | Limestone College (S.C.) | 4 | 22-1 | 674 |
| 5 | Livingstone College (N.C.) – 1 | 8 | 21-0 | 614 |
| 6 | West Texas A&M University | 7 | 18-2 | 588 |
| 7 | Columbus State University (Ga.) | 11 | 22-1 | 524 |
| 8 | Adelphi University (N.Y.) | 9 | 20-2 | 523 |
| 9 | Emporia State University (Kan.) | 6 | 18-3 | 516 |
| 10 | Pittsburg State University (Kan.) | 10 | 21-3 | 486 |
| 11 | Michigan Technological University | 13 | 20-1 | 482 |
| 12 | Wayne State University (Mich.) | 12 | 19-2 | 446 |
| 13 | Indiana University of Pennsylvania (Pa.) | 5 | 19-2 | 417 |
| 14 | Rollins College (Fla.) | 14 | 18-2 | 395 |
| 15 | Stonehill College (Mass.) | 15 | 18-2 | 387 |
| 16 | Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania | 17 | 19-2 | 318 |
| 17 | Drury University (Mo.) | 19 | 18-3 | 266 |
| 18 | Seattle Pacific University (Wash.) | 21 | 17-3 | 229 |
| 19 | Wayne State College (Neb.) | 22 | 21-3 | 228 |
| 20 | California University of Pennsylvania (Pa.) | NR | 19-3 | 162 |
| 21 | Florida Institute of Technology | 18 | 18-3 | 136 |
| 22 | Midwestern State University (Tex.) | NR | 18-3 | 107 |
| 23 | Cedarville University (Ohio) | NR | 21-2 | 93 |
| 24 | Arkansas Tech University | 25 | 17-3 | 84 |
| 25 | Humboldt State University (Calif.) | 23 | 18-3 | 69 |
Dropped Out: Northern State University (S.D.); Harding University (Ark.); Nova Southeastern University (Fla.).
Receiving Votes: Northern State University (S.D.) 65; Union University (Tenn.) 63; Harding University (Ark.) 53; California Baptist University (Calif.) 39; University of New Haven (Conn.) 31; University of District of Columbia 24; Nova Southeastern University (Fla.) 20; Lander University (S.C.) 18; Washburn University (Kan.) 15; California State Polytechnic University – Pomona 13; California State University – Dominguez Hills 13; University of Colorado – Colorado Springs 11; Grand Valley State University (Mich.) 9; University of North Georgia 7; University of Wisconsin – Parkside 5; Minnesota State University – Mankato 4; California State University – San Bernardino 3; Ashland University (Ohio) 2; Lincoln University (Pa.) 2; Colorado Mesa University 1; Hawaii Pacific University 1; Missouri Southern State University 1.