(New Orleans)—The Loyola women’s basketball team moved up one spot to 17 in the NAIA’s latest basketball poll released Wednesday, the highest ranking in the program’s history. Loyola was ranked 17th in the preseason poll in October.

After breaking two Loyola single game records and tying one GCAC mark, Trenese Smith became Loyola’s first player ever named the NAIA Division I National Player of the Week.

Smith, a sophomore guard/forward from LaPlace, La., broke the Loyola single game record with 39 points against Dillard last Thursday, and scored her 1,000th career point. It was the third time this season that Smith has flirted with the single game scoring record. She initially broke the record with a 37 point performance on January 18 at Spring Hill. She tied the school record on January 5th with 35 points against Belhaven.

Smith is ranked seventh in the NAIA in scoring, averaging 20.1 points per game.

Additionally, for only the third time in the program’s history, the Loyola men’s basketball team received votes in the NAIA Division I Top 25 poll. The men’s basketball team received three votes in this week’s poll, placing Loyola in a tie for 41st place. Loyola also received votes in two previous polls this season.

The Wolfpack men’s basketball team(11-5, 4-2 GCAC) has won the last four games, their longest conference win streak since the 1998-99 season when they won five straight GCAC games.