PDT Sports Report

Following a split of its two games this past week, women’s basketball has held to its No. 14 ranking in this week’s NAIA Poll. The Bears started the week with a win over then-No. 5 Cumberland in the NAIA Game of the Week but were stifled by Cumberlands on Saturday.

The Bears (20-7, 11-6 MSC) are currently the second-highest ranked team in the Mid-South Conference despite being in fourth place overall. However, they are just one game out of that position in the conference with three more games to play in the regular season.

The first of those games will be this Thursday at 6 p.m. against UVA-Wise (7-19, 4-13 MSC). The Bears will be looking to reverse the earlier result from when these teams met in December. In the early meeting, the Cavalier upset the Bears 63-42.

Saturday will serve as Senior Day for the team’s five graduating members (Allison Nagle, Alex Pohl, Tristan Rumfield, Schera Sampson and Kayla Wiley). That game will be against Pikeville (10-17, 5-12 MSC). SSU was a 87-76 victor over Pikeville back in late November.

The regular season will come to a close on Monday, Feb. 25 at Rio Grande (6-21, 0-17 MSC). The Bears were also victorious in this previous November matchup, 76-61.

Cumberland has fallen one spot to No. 6 in the NAIA rankings after the loss to Shawnee State. The Bulldogs (25-2, 16-2 MSC) have already clinched the MSC regular season title. No. 16 Campbellsville (20-7, 12-5 MSC) and No. 18 Georgetown (18-8, 12-5 MSC) are currently tied for second while St. Catharine (18-8, 10-7 MSC) and Cumberlands (17-10, 10-8) are currently receiving votes in the latest release.

The Mid-South Conference tournament will get underway next Thursday, Feb. 28 for the women’s side. The next NAIA Poll will be released on Tuesday, Feb. 26.

SSU Men’s Basketball receiving votes in NAIA Poll

Men’s basketball continues to hover just outside of the top 25 as the Bears are once again receiving votes in the weekly NAIA Coaches’ Top 25 Poll. The Bears received 14 votes in the weekly release, listing them sixth amongst teams that are receiving votes or the equivalent of 31st in the country.

Shawnee State (16-10, 11-6 MSC) has just three Mid-South games remaining on the conference schedule. The Bears are currently in fourth place in the conference but just a single game out of second place.

The first of those three remaining games will be this Thursday against UVA-Wise at 8 p.m. The Cavaliers (10-12, 6-11 MSC) are currently sitting in eighth place in the conference and will come in looking for the upset victory as they try to lock down a spot in the conference tournament. Earlier this season, SSU came away with a 76-68 win at UVA-Wise.

Saturday will be Senior Day for Jeremy Bennington, Tyler Boyles, Tyler Morgan and Ian Nixson. In that matchup, the Bears will take on one of the two teams that currently sit just a game ahead of them in second place for the conference as No. 12 Pikeville comes to Portsmouth. Pikeville is tied with No. 13 Georgetown (20-6, 12-5 MSC) for second in the Mid-South. The Bears dropped a 90-71 game to Pikeville earlier this season.

The regular season comes to a close on next Monday when the Bears travel to rival Rio Grande (9-18, 4-13 MSC). The Bears came out on top, 85-70, when the two teams met in Waller Gymnasium during November.

Lindsey Wilson (24-3, 14-3 MSC) is once again the highest-ranked MSC team, coming in at No. 4 in this week’s poll. Along with Shawnee State, fifth-place Campbellsville (17-10, 10-7 MSC) is also receiving votes in the top 25 poll.

The men’s conference tournament will get underway next Friday, March 1 in Frankfort, Ky. The next weekly NAIA poll will be released on Tuesday, Feb. 26.

Source: SSU Athletic Communications