Cumberland women climb to No. 6

The Cumberland women’s basketball team moved up one spot to No. 6 in the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday.

It marks the highest ranking in program history for the Bulldogs, who are just one of six programs in the nation currently with 20 wins.

Cumberland leads the Mid-South Conference with a 20-1 overall mark, 10-1 in league action heading into Thursday’s contest against 12th-ranked Georgetown College. The Bulldogs defeated the Tigers, 66-64, in their first meeting this season on January 5 when Yalonda Davis’ putback was good with 0.3 seconds remaining.

CU has won seven straight outings overall and all 11 games this season away from home, including 10-0 in true road contests. Cumberland played seven of its first 10 conference games on the road and this week’s outings at Georgetown and St. Catharine College will leave the club with just one road contest left this season – February 23 at Bluefield College.

Cumberland was ranked seventh in the last five polls dating to December 4 until moving up one spot to No. 6 this week. The No. 7 national ranking tied for the highest by the program since 1999-00. CU was last ranked in the Top 10 nationally on January 8, 2007 (8th), and was last No. 7 in consecutive polls on Jan. 11 and Jan. 18, 2006.

Cumberland joins MidAmerica Nazarene, Benedictine University, Lubbock Christian, Our Lady of the Lake and Freed-Hardeman as teams with 20 victories nationally.