Rio women ranked No. 20 in NAIA preseason poll

NAIA Sports Information
     KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The University of Rio Grande is ranked No. 20 in the 2022-23 NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll.
     The poll, which was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences, Independents and Unaffiliated Groups, was released Wednesday by the national office.
     The RedStorm, who received 200 total points in the balloting, are coming off the most successful season in school history, which included a 32-3 record and the school's first-ever NAIA National Tournament victory.
     Head coach David Smalley's squad, which begins its regular season schedule on Nov. 2 at home against Miami University-Hamilton, returns a number of players from last year's roster, including River States Conference Player of the Year Ella Skeens.
     Defending national champion Thomas More University topped the list with all but two of the 21 first-place votes at 590 points.
     Westmont (Calif.) grabbed the remaining two first-place nods and 570 points to finish second.
     Morningside (Iowa) University was third with 515 points, while Campbellsville (Ky.) University and Carroll (Mont.) tied for fourth place with 505 points.
     Midway University was the only other River States Conference school to be mentioned in the voting, placing 32nd with 28 points.