The unbeaten Francis Marion University women's basketball team
remained 17th in this week's USA TODAY ESPN Division II
Top 25 coaches' poll released on Tuesday (Dec. 15) night. FMU
(7-0) is preparing for a tough weekend that will see the Patriots
play three games in less than 48 hours.
Francis Marion will play Tusculum College (6-1) on Friday (Dec.
18) at 7:30 p.m. on the opening day of the OrthoCarolina Classic in
Wingate, N.C. The Patriots will play the host school, Wingate
University (4-3), on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
On Sunday, FMU will face Bluefield College (8-5) at 1 p.m. in
the opening game of the Carolina's Challenge in the Myrtle Beach
Convention Center. That event will also have the University
of North Carolina playing the University of South Carolina at 3
p.m. and Coastal Carolina University facing Savannah State
University at 5 p.m. Admission is $10 for the tripleheader.
FMU is one of 24 unbeaten squads in the nation and the Patriots
lead Division II in scoring offense (93.3 ppg), scoring margin
(+34.1 ppg), assists per game (23 apg), steals per game (22.6 spg),
and turnover margin (+19.43).
Junior Shannon Singleton-Bates leads the Patriots in scoring at
14.8 ppg, while 5-10 senior center Precious Tucker is averaging
13.4 ppg and leads the team in rebounding at 8.6 rpg. Senior
forward Nicole Mealing is also scoring in double figures at 11.1
ppg.
Junior point guard Robin Colbert leads the nation in steals per
game at 5.9 per contest and has amassed 41 steals and 38 assists in
the seven games while committing only 14 turnovers.
Tusculum is led by 4-11 junior guard Jasmine Gunn, a Preseason
Women's Division II Bulletin All-American selection, who is
averaging 17.6 ppg and 4.3 apg. Freshman 5-5 guard Kendal
Baxter is adding 15.3 ppg, while nailing 43.9 percent of her
three-point attempts. The Pioneers' only loss was to Peach
Belt Conference member Georgia College & State University
(78-63). Tusculum is the two-time defending South Atlantic
Conference champion and has advanced to the NCAA Tournament each of
the past two seasons.
FMU lost its only previous meeting with Tusculum, 71-61 four
seasons ago in Greeneville, Tenn., while the Patriots trail 7-6 in
the all-time series with Wingate. Francis Marion and
Bluefield will be meeting for the first time.
After being unranked in the 2009-10 preseason poll, Francis
Marion has appeared in each of the four regular-season polls at
22nd, 18th, 17th, and 17th.
Michigan Tech (7-0) was a near unanimous choice for the top spot
again this week, receiving 22 of 26 first-place votes. FMU is
one of three Peach Belt Conference schools in this week's
rankings.
Fans can follow the live stats for the OrthoCarolina Classic at
http://www.sidearmstats.com/wingate/wbball/index.htm ,
while the site for the Carolina's Challenge will be http://beachballclassic.com.ccgdev.com/Schedule/LIVEStats/tabid/67/Default.aspx
USA TODAY ESPN DIVISION II TOP 25 COACHES' POLL
Week 4 Poll: December 15, 2009
|
Rank
|
Institution-
First Place Votes
|
Previous Ranking
|
Record
|
Points
|
|
1
|
Michigan Technological University - 22
|
1
|
7-0
|
644
|
|
2
|
Franklin Pierce University (N.H.) - 2
|
2
|
7-0
|
572
|
|
3
|
Delta State University (Miss.) - 1
|
3
|
8-0
|
558
|
|
4
|
University of Indianapolis (Ind.) - 1
|
5
|
7-0
|
549
|
|
5
|
University of Alaska Anchorage
|
4
|
8-0
|
539
|
|
6
|
Gannon University (Pa.)
|
6
|
10-0
|
528
|
|
7
|
Fort Lewis College (Colo.)
|
7
|
11-1
|
446
|
|
8
|
Washburn University (Kan.)
|
T11
|
7-0
|
398
|
|
9
|
Emporia State University (Kan.)
|
9
|
7-1
|
383
|
|
10
|
California University of Pennsylvania
|
10
|
6-1
|
376
|
|
11
|
Minnesota State University, Mankato
|
T11
|
8-1
|
357
|
|
T12
|
Quincy University (Ill.)
|
16
|
10-0
|
299
|
|
T12
|
University of Tampa (Fla.)
|
15
|
9-0
|
299
|
|
14
|
University of California-San Diego
|
13
|
3-0
|
297
|
|
15
|
Clayton State University (Ga.)
|
8
|
4-1
|
293
|
|
16
|
West Texas A&M University
|
14
|
8-1
|
268
|
|
17
|
Francis Marion University (S.C.)
|
17
|
7-0
|
238
|
|
18
|
Johnson C. Smith University (N.C.)
|
18
|
8-1
|
187
|
|
19
|
Virginia State University
|
20
|
7-0
|
179
|
|
20
|
Seattle Pacific University (Wash.)
|
19
|
5-1
|
143
|
|
21
|
Lander University (S.C.)
|
23
|
6-0
|
140
|
|
22
|
Carson-Newman College (Tenn.)
|
NR
|
9-0
|
102
|
|
23
|
Lenoir-Rhyne University (N.C.)
|
22
|
7-1
|
97
|
|
24
|
Arkansas Tech University
|
24
|
8-0
|
89
|
|
25
|
Southeastern Oklahoma State University
|
25
|
9-0
|
78
|
Others Receiving Votes: Concordia University,
St. Paul (Minn.) - 74; Millersville University of Pennsylvania -
57; Shaw University (N.C.) - 47; Tusculum College (Tenn.) - 38;
Glenville State College (W.Va.) - 26; Fort Valley State University
(Ga.) - 15; Indiana University of Pennsylvania -15; Minnesota State
University, Moorhead -15; Assumption College (Mass.) - 13; Lynn
University (Fla.) - 12; Bentley University (Mass.) - 11; Queens
University of Charlotte (N.C.) - 9; Northwest Nazarene University
(Idaho) - 7; Tarleton State University (Texas) - 6; Augustana
College (S.D.) - 4; Adams State College (Colo.) - 2; Newberry
College (S.C.) - 2; Florida Southern College - 1; Grand Canyon
University (Ariz.) - 1; University of Montevallo (Ala.) -1;
University of Bridgeport (Conn.) - 1.
