SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – The Spring Arbor University women's basketball team climbed from No. 25 to No. 17 in the first regular-season Gared NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll, released Wednesday. The Cougars are 5-0 after winning both games at the Patriot Classic in Williamsburg, Kentucky.
 
Spring Arbor won its first four games by double digits before edging then-No. 6 Lindsey Wilson 66-65 on Friday. Megan Zeitz scored the go-ahead layup with 22 seconds left to cap a weekend that opened with an 84-66 win over Cumberlands (Ky.), which was receiving votes in the national poll.
 
The Cougars are averaging 79.8 points per game while allowing 55.6, a scoring margin of 24.2 points. They've also averaged 15.0 steals through five games, including 25 in the season-opening win over Cleary.
 
Zeitz leads Spring Arbor at 18.8 points per game and has made 9 of 17 attempts from 3-point range (52.9 percent). She averaged 24.0 points at the Patriot Classic, highlighted by a career-high 30 against Cumberlands, to earn Crossroads League Offensive Player of the Week honors. Haven Chapman (11.8 points per game) and Ashley Weller (11.6) are also averaging double figures.
 
Aubrey Crockett leads the Cougars with 6.4 rebounds per game and earned the league's Defensive Player of the Week award after totaling 13 rebounds, five steals and two blocks at the Patriot Classic. She grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, all on the defensive end, in the win over Lindsey Wilson.
 
Spring Arbor returns home to face Madonna on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 1 p.m. at the McDonald Athletic Center.