Women’s basketball receives votes in NAIA Top 25

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The NAIA released its second Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll of the 2025-26 season on Wednesday, and the Loyola Wolf Pack–previously ranked No. 22–dropped out of the national rankings but still received votes in the poll. 

Since the last poll was released, Loyola (5-2) has competed in three NAIA contests and one NCAA exhibition against the University of New Orleans, winning three of the four. The sole defeat came against William Carey, who is also receiving votes in the poll. 

Carey is the first team outside of the top 25, garnering 77 points in the poll, with Loyola right behind at 66 points. Fellow Southern States Athletic Conference school Faulkner also is receiving votes. [Full top 25 rankings list]

The day after the previous rankings were released, the Pack secured its third win of 20+ points this season, 75-54 back on Nov. 13 against Philander Smith. The team then played the exhibition against UNO on Nov. 19, upsetting the Privateers 73-65. After opening conference play with a loss against the undefeated Crusaders over the weekend, Loyola bounced back to defeat Dillard 70-61 and pick up its fifth win of the year, though that win was not reflected in this week's rankings. 

Deniya Thornton continues to pace the team in several categories, including points per game (18.9), three-pointers (8), steals (19), and blocks (6). Thornton is one of four Wolf Pack players to average at least 10 points per game, joining Alissa O'Dell (14.0), Caitlin Travis (13.3), and SeQuoia Carroll (10.0). O'Dell leads the squad with 8.7 rebounds per game, with Carroll (8.3), Thornton (7.0), and freshman Tiarra McPipe (6.3) also contributing on the boards. Chandler Caver continues to lead the team in assists with 3.7 assists per game. 

After the Thanksgiving break, the Wolf Pack will take a conference road trip, with games being played at Blue Mountain and Tennessee Southern on December 4 and 6, before returning home to face Arkansas Baptist on Dec. 13.