QUICK START LANDS LADY PACERS IN TOP 25 POLL
USCA RETURNS TO NATIONAL POLL FOLLOWING FIVE-YEAR HIATUS

AIKEN, S.C.-- Off to a 3-0 start, the USC Aiken Lady Pacers cracked the first in-season edition of the USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Top 25 Coaches Poll, released Wednesday.  USCA, ranked 21st in the preseason Women’s Division II Bulletin poll, finds its way into the WBCA poll for the first time since December 12, 2002.  That team was also ranked 20th and was in its 16th-straight week in the national poll. 

North Dakota retained the top spot in the land with a 4-0 start.  Delta State and Washburn moved up from fifth and sixth to occupy spots two and three respectively.  UC San Diego and the University of Alaska Anchorage each made big moves to round out the top five. 

USC Aiken, which found itself just outside the top 25 at 29th in the preseason edition, garnered 159 points and is the highest ranked of five newcomers to the poll this week.  Following a season opening victory over Catawba, the Lady Pacers went on the road and stunned seventh-ranked Clayton State 67-63 in Morrow, Ga. before returning home to dispatch of Coker 84-57. 

The 3-0 start is the best for a USC Aiken club since the 2000-01 squad opened the season at 4-0.

USC Aiken will square off against rival Augusta State tonight at 5:30 PM at the Convocation Center. 

USA TODAY/ESPN/WBCA Division II
Women’s Basketball Top 25 Coaches Poll
November 27, 2007--Poll #1
1. North Dakota (24) 4-0 672 1
2. Delta State (2) 4-0 628 5
3. Washburn 5-0 608 6
4. UC San Diego 5-0 556 10
5. Alaska Anchorage (1) 4-0 491 14
6. Drury 2-0 489 9
7. Emporia State 3-1 485 3
8. CSU-Chico 4-0 466 15
9. Bentley 3-1 428 T7
10. Indiana (Pa.) 5-0 416 16
11. Southern Connecticut State 2-1 409 2
12. Clayton State 3-1 320 T7
13. Texas A&M-Commerce 4-1 319 12
14. Valdosta State 5-1 312 11
15. Northern Kentucky 2-0 265 18
16. Glenville State 2-0 186 21
t17. Florida Tech 4-0 166 25
t17. Shaw 4-1 166 13
19. Augustana (S.D.) 6-1 161 22
20. USC Aiken 3-0 159 NR
21. West Texas A&M 2-2 148 4
22. Nebraska-Kearney 3-0 136 NR
23. Concordia (Minn.) 4-0 102 NR
24. Holy Family 4-0 98 NR
25. Anderson (S.C.) 3-0 83 NR

Dropped Out: Missouri Western State, Grand Valley State, Gannon, Lewis (Ill.), Newberry.