Toledo, Ohio---The Express women's basketball team has improved four spots in the newest National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) D-II poll.
After debuting at No. 9 in the preseason poll, the Express have rattled off 11 straight wins following a season-opening two-point loss to now No. 2 Kirkwood Community College. With that success, the team is now ranked No. 5.
During their streak, they knocked off preseason No. 10 Monroe College, No. 12 Kalamazoo Valley Community College and No. 18 Lake Michigan College. While Monroe dropped out of the new poll, Lake Michigan moved up to 12th and Kalamazoo Valley is No. 18. The Express handed Lake Michigan their only loss this season.
Defending national champion Louisburg College (8-0) is the new No. 1, and they are followed by Kirkwood (7-1), North Iowa Area Community College (9-0) and Highland Community College - Kansas (12-0).
The Express have been ranked among the nation's top 10 for three consecutive polls. Additionally, they have been ranked in the top 10 at least once every season since 2008-09. Including this year, the Express are 118-26 since the beginning of the 2009-10 season. They have four straight seasons of at least 25 wins heading into this year.
The Express feature a solid trio of sophomore guards - Paige Wright(Northrop/Fort Wayne, Ind.), Kamilah Carter (Pioneer/Ann Arbor, Mich.) and Eboni Adams (Maple Heights/Cleveland, Ohio). Of those three, Carter is leading the team at 17.8 points per game, while Adams (12.3) and Wright (11.1) aren't far behind.
In the paint, freshman forward Ashley Tunstall (Huber Heights Wayne/Dayton, Ohio) is averaging 8.8 points and a team-high 9.6 rebounds per game.
In addition to those four, the Express feature a deep bench which features Kheri Motley (West Bloomfield/West Bloomfield, Mich.), Maura Hackney(Edgewood/Middletown, Ohio), Zhana Randolph (Rochester/Rochester Hills, Mich.), LaKayra Carlisle (Pershing/Detroit, Mich.), Hannah Griffin(Edgerton/Edgerton, Ohio), Alyssa Lassey (Ida/Ida, Mich.), Imani Vickers (Mansfield/Mansfield, Ohio) and Malaysha Cammon (Divine Child/Dearborn, Mich.).
Motley (5.8), Hackney (4.6), Randolph (4.5), Carlisle (4.2) are all contributing consistently in the scoring average column, while Wright (6.0), Carlisle (4.8), Motley (4.8), Adams (4.7), Carter (3.8), Hackney (3.6) and Cammon (3.0) are helping in rebounds per game.
Notes
Carter is the reigning Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) player of the week, which she is now a two-time winner of this season.
The Express will next play on Saturday at home against Kirtland Community College at 3 p.m.