Wayland Baptist's Flying Queens are ranked 10
th in the 2022-23 NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll.
The Flying Queens – who open their season at 7 p.m. Thursday in Hutcherson Center against University of the Southwest (N.M.) – finished last season with a 33-4 record, Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles, and a No. 8 national ranking. Wayland, whose 33 wins marked the most for the program in more than 40 years, was eliminated from the national tournament in the Round of 16 by No. 10 Rocky Mountain College (Mont.).
Graduation claimed two key players in point-guard
Angel Hayden and two-time SAC Player of the Year and four-time NAIA All-American
Kaylee Edgemon. But in addition to the Queens returning two-time all-American
Jenna Cooper-Jackson, all-conference third-teamer
Kaitlyn Edgemon and starter
Ashlyn Shelley, plus emerging players
Canton Moreno and
Taryn Shultz, the Queens reloaded with a mix of nine first-year freshmen and transfers.
Wayland is the only SAC team ranked in the preseason poll, although Mid-America Christian received votes and is the equivalent of 28
th. WBU, MACU, Texas Wesleyan and Science & Arts of Oklahoma all qualified for nationals last season, but only the Flying Queens made it past the opening round.
Defending national champion Thomas More (Ky.) will open the season at No. 1.
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NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Top 25
| RANK |
LAST TIME |
SCHOOL [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] |
RECORD |
POINTS |
| 1 |
3 |
Thomas More (Ky.) [19] |
32-4 |
590 |
| 2 |
2 |
Westmont (Calif.) [2] |
27-5 |
570 |
| 3 |
6 |
Morningside (Iowa) |
30-6 |
515 |
| 4 |
5 |
Campbellsville (Ky.) |
31-6 |
505 |
| 4 |
11 |
Carroll (Mont.) |
27-8 |
505 |
| 6 |
1 |
Southeastern (Fla.) |
33-2 |
492 |
| 7 |
4 |
Marian (Ind.) |
30-5 |
480 |
| 8 |
14 |
Clarke (Iowa) |
31-5 |
478 |
| 9 |
15 |
Central Methodist (Mo.) |
31-6 |
470 |
| 10 |
8 |
Wayland Baptist (Texas) |
33-4 |
418 |
| 11 |
12 |
Indiana Wesleyan |
30-5 |
409 |
| 12 |
RV |
Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) |
27-8 |
357 |
| 13 |
12 |
Sterling (Kan.) |
32-3 |
331 |
| 14 |
9 |
Bryan (Tenn.) |
32-2 |
324 |
| 15 |
21 |
Dordt (Iowa) |
29-9 |
267 |
| 15 |
RV |
Georgetown (Ky.) |
22-12 |
267 |
| 17 |
25 |
Loyola (La.) |
23-6 |
266 |
| 18 |
7 |
The Master's (Calif.) |
31-3 |
251 |
| 19 |
NR |
Vanguard (Calif.) |
13-12 |
228 |
| 20 |
20 |
Rio Grande (Ohio) |
32-3 |
200 |
| 21 |
RV |
Rust (Miss.) |
26-4 |
197 |
| 22 |
19 |
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
25-5 |
182 |
| 23 |
NR |
Montana Western |
15-14 |
174 |
| 24 |
17 |
Indiana Tech |
30-3 |
146 |
| 25 |
10 |
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) |
29-5 |
142 |
Receiving Votes: Dakota State (S.D.) 123, St. Francis (Ill.) 107, Mid-America Christian (Okla.) 82, Cumberlands (Ky.) 54, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 32, Northwestern (Iowa) 30, Midway (Ky.) 28, Bethel (Tenn.) 26, Xavier (La.) 23, Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 23, Columbia (Mo.) 21, Eastern Oregon 14, Saint Xavier (Ill.) 10, Tabor (Kan.) 10, IU South Bend (Ind.) 9, Faulkner (Ala.) 8, Benedictine (Kan.) 4, Pikeville (Ky.) 4, LSU Shreveport (La.) 4.
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