Pride women's basketball open 2023-24 ranked No. 7 in NAIA Coaches' Poll

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - With their regular season slated to begin on Nov. 1, the Clarke University women's basketball team opens the 2023-24 season ranked in the No. 7 spot as the NAIA released the preseason edition of the Coaches' Top 25 Poll on Wednesday morning.

With this inclusion in the NAIA rankings, it marks the 28th-straight poll the Pride have been ranked in the top 25 spanning back to 2019-20 where they first appeared in the poll in the preseason but dropped out of the rankings on Dec. 18 before climbing back in on Jan. 15 to begin this current streak.

In 2022-23, the Pride were in the top-10 for all but the final poll of the season where they dropped to 11 but became the lowest seed (No. 3) in the NAIA Tournament to win the title since in inception of the new tournament format.

The Pride are the defending NAIA Champions after their 33-4 overall record as five of the six teams CU defeated in the NAIA Tournament on their way to the title open the season in the poll as well led by Campbellsville University toping the list as the preseason No. 1 team, with Dakota State (No. 8), Lewis-Clark State (No. 11), Freed-Hardeman (No. 20), and Indiana University Northwest (RV) all mentioned.

CU is one of four teams from the Heart of America Athletic Conference mentioned in the poll with defending Heart regular season and tournament champions Central Methodist University opening up as the No. 2 team in the poll after receiving three first place votes as MidAmerica Nazarene begins the year at No. 18, and Grand View is receiving votes at nine total voting points.

Opening up a new era for Pride women's basketball, 2023-24 will see the head coaching debut of Adam Hocking as he takes over the team he'd been assisting for eight seasons as he returns three of the team's top-six scorers from 2022-23 led by NAIA All-America Honorable Mention Nicole McDermott as the senior guard finished last season averaging 10.7 points per game, a team-high 7.6 rebounds per game, 2.7 assists per game, and 1.6 steals per game.

Beyond McDermott, no other primary starters return from the 2022-23 Clarke team but Taylor Haase, Mya Merschman, and Izzie Peterson all seemingly slide into starting roles after each averaged over 16 minutes per game last season with Haase also averaging doubld figures in scoring last year at 10.2 points per game and Merschman finishing the year at 8.1 points per game.

The Pride will also look to returners in senior guard Madison Lindauer, juniors Halle Boldt and Lilly Schilling, along with transfers Maci Kuchta (Iowa Wesleyan), Taylor Norris (Missouri Baptist), and Jorja Hanselman (Iowa Central Community College) to be key depth pieces this season.

Opening their 2023-24 season on the road on Nov. 1 against St. Ambrose University then the home opener coming on Nov. 8 against Governors State, the Pride will only play two non-conference games in the early portion of the schedule before beginning Heart play on Nov. 11 when they host William Penn University at the Kehl Center.