2024-25 NAIA Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Top 25 Poll
SEWARD, Neb. – Concordia University, Nebraska Women’s Basketball will open another season with high aspirations. In the 2024-25 NAIA Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Top 25 Poll released on Wednesday (Oct. 23), the Bulldogs were tagged with a No. 5 ranking and 452 points in the poll. A week earlier, Concordia was placed second in the GPAC preseason coaches’ poll behind only defending NAIA national champion Dordt.
At No. 5, the Bulldogs have jumped up two spots from where they sat in the final poll of the 2023-24 regular season (no postseason poll). Concordia was ranked in each of the eight polls released in 2023-24 by the NAIA. The No. 5 ranking is the highest for the program during the era of one NAIA division (which started in 2020-21) and is the highest for the Bulldogs overall since being ranked No. 1 to end the 2019-20 campaign. In Head Coach Drew Olson’s first 18 seasons leading the program, Concordia has finished in the top 25 a total of 13 times and in the top 10 a total of nine times.
The Bulldogs return a pair of GPAC All-Conference guards in Kendal Brigham and Abby Krieser. Olson and company will be tasked with replacing three all-conference seniors from the ’23-24 team. Said Olson, “It’s been really fun so far. It’s fun to see the players that have taken a step forward and have shown lots of development. It’s been a lot of them. Our sophomore class has shown really good strides. As far as our identity, I think we’re still trying to figure that out. It’s kind of hard when you don’t have opponents to play to measure up and see if this is something that’s going to work. I do like what we’re doing right now, and we’re just ready to play somebody different.”
The 2024-25 season will officially tip off at the 25th Cattle Classic slated for Nov. 1-2. As part of the event, Concordia will take on Oklahoma City University and Southern Oregon University inside Friedrich Arena.
For a closer look at the 2024-25 Bulldogs, check out our season preview linked HERE.