Xavier Basketball Finishes Season Ranked 19th In NAIA Postseason Poll

Xavier University of Louisiana moved up one spot to 19th in the NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Postseason Top 25 poll on Wednesday.

The Gold Nuggets were 24-10 in 2013-14, won the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament and upset defending champion Westmont 66-53 in the opening round of the national tournament on March 19. Xavier lost 59-55 to Campbellsville in the second round.

This is the fifth consecutive year and the 11th time in the last 13 seasons that Xavier appears in the final top 25 of the season. This is the third straight year that the final poll occurred after the national tournament.

GCAC regular-season champion Talladega ranked 25th.

National champion Oklahoma City was a unanimous No. 1. Xavier lost 72-70 in overtime at Oklahoma City on Nov. 29.

The top 25:

1. Oklahoma City
2. Freed-Hardeman
3. Vanguard
4. Westminster (Utah)
5. Campbellsville
6. Wiley
7. John Brown
8. Our Lady of the Lake
9. Oklahoma Baptist
10. Georgetown (Ky.)
11. Baker
12. The Master’s
13. MidAmerica Nazarene
14. Columbia (Mo.)
15. Loyola
16. Bethel (Tenn.)
17. Lewis-Clark State
18. Westmont
19. Xavier
20. Montana State-Northern
21. Shawnee State
22. Hope International
23. Lyon
24. Wayland Baptist
25. Talladega