KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Marian University women's basketball team continues to climb the polls as the Knights start this week as the No. 21-ranked team in the NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll. After spending last week at No. 23, the Knights jumped two spots after earning the right to call themselves champions of the Crimson Wave Invitational.

The Knights are currently 9-2 overall this season and hold a 2-1 record in Mid-Central College Conference play. MU's conference loss came at the hands of Indiana Wesleyan University, who is the unanimous No. 1 again this week. Other members of the MCC, Bethel College and Grace College, sit at No. 10 and No. 16, respectively, while Saint Francis (Ind.), Taylor, Huntington and Mount Vernon Nazarene are receiving votes.

At the Crimson Wave Invitational, the Knights picked up victories over Indiana University-South Bend and Mid-Continent University to extend their winning-streak to four games. Junior Natalie Robinson was named the Invitational MVP, while senior Emily Smithson was also recognized as a member of the all-invite team.

Juniors Whitley Emerson and Rachel Turk are currently leading the Knights' offense with 12.9 and 12.3 points per game, respectively, and the pair also tops the stats in rebounds as Turk has 7.7 and Emerson has 6.6 per game. Junior Natasha Marshall is also currently ranked first in the nation in both total assists (73) and assists per game (7.3).

As a team, the Knights are out-scoring their opponents by an 8.8 point margin and have held opponents to only 33 percent shooting from the field, which give them the third spot in the nation in field goal percentage defense.

The Knights are back in action on Saturday for an exhibition game against Butler University at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.