Women’s Basketball ranked No. 18 in D3hoops.com, WBCA polls
By Wes Mayberry
| D3hoops.com Women's Basketball Top 25 Poll – Week 12 | WBCA NCAA III Top 25 Poll – Feb. 21 |
ADA — The Ohio Northern women's basketball team is ranked No. 18 in the Week 12 D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll.
The Polar Bears (21-4 overall, 15-3 OAC) received 170 points in the poll and fell seven spots from last week's poll in which they received 287 points and were ranked No. 11.
Northern has clinched the Ohio Athletic Conference Regular Season championship and No. 1 seed for this week's OAC Tournament. The Polar Bears will host either No. 4 seed Otterbein or No. 5 seed Wilmington in the semifinals on Thursday at 7 p.m.
ONU is coming off a 1-1 week that included a 63-47 win at Heidelberg and an 89-83 double-overtime loss at Muskingum.
Christopher Newport (Va.) is the top-ranked team in this week's poll, receiving 614 points and 15 of 25 first-place votes.
Transylvania (Ky.), Scranton (Pa.), Smith (Mass.) and Trinity (Tex.) round out the top five.
The D3hoops.com poll is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, sports information directors and media members from across the country and is published weekly.
Northern is also ranked No. 18 in this week's Women's Basketball Coaches Association Top 25 Poll, which was released on Tuesday.
The Polar Bears received 73 points in the poll and are tied with Elizabethtown (Pa.).
Northern received 118 points and was ranked No. 13 in last week's poll.
Christopher Newport is the top-ranked team in the WBCA poll, receiving 250 points and all 10 first-place votes.
Transylvania, Scranton, Trinity and Smith round out the top five.
The WBCA NCAA Division III Coaches Poll Committee is composed of one head coach from each of the 10 NCAA Division III conferences.
D3hoops.com Women's Top 25 - Week 12
Feb. 21, 2023
| Rank | School (No. 1 votes) | Points | Last | Record |
| 1. | Christopher Newport (Va.) (15) | 614 | 1 | 24-0 |
| 2. | Transylvania (Ky.) (9) | 585 | 2 | 25-0 |
| 3. | Scranton (Pa.) (1) | 577 | 3 | 25-0 |
| 4. | Smith (Mass.) | 532 | 5 | 24-1 |
| 5. | Trinity (Tex.) | 530 | 4 | 24-1 |
| 6. | New York U. | 514 | 6 | 21-2 |
| 7. | Hope (Mich.) | 481 | 7 | 23-2 |
| 8. | Hardin-Simmons (Tex.) | 436 | 8 | 23-2 |
| 9. | DeSales (Pa.) | 423 | 9 | 24-1 |
| 10. | Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) | 360 | 14 | 23-2 |
| 11. | Messiah (Pa.) | 326 | 13 | 23-2 |
| 12. | Babson (Mass.) | 288 | 17 | 21-4 |
| 13. | Trine (Ind.) | 287 | 15 | 20-5 |
| 14. | Chicago (Ill.) | 276 | 18 | 20-4 |
| 15. | Ithaca (N.Y.) | 259 | 10 | 22-3 |
| 16. | Trinity (Conn.) | 209 | 19 | 21-4 |
| 17 | Baldwin Wallace | 193 | 12 | 21-4 |
| 18. | Ohio Northern | 170 | 11 | 21-4 |
| 19. | Loras (Iowa) | 165 | 24 | 21-4 |
| 20. | Puget Sound (Wash.) | 149 | 21 | 21-4 |
| 21. | Wisconsin-Whitewater | 134 | 16 | 19-6 |
| 22. | Calvin (Mich.) | 120 | 23 | 20-5 |
| 23. | Millikin (Ill.) | 89 | 25 | 21-4 |
| 24. | Wartburg (Iowa) | 72 | 20 | 20-5 |
| 25. | Washington and Jefferson (Pa.) | 53 | NR | 23-2 |
Others receiving votes: Washington U. 48; Tufts 46; Elizabethtown 32; La Verne 30; SUNY New Paltz 24; Concordia-Moorhead 16; Emory 16; Stevens 16; UC Santa Cruz 15; St. John Fisher 14; Rochester 6; UW-Oshkosh 5; UW-Stout 5; UW-Eau Claire 4; Berea 3; Roger Williams 3
WBCA NCAA Division III Top 25 - Feb. 21, 2023
| Rank | School (No. 1 votes) | Points | Last | Record |
| 1. | Christopher Newport (Va.) (10) | 250 | 1 | 24-0 |
| 2. | Transylvania (Ky.) | 240 | 2 | 25-0 |
| 3. | Scranton (Pa.) | 230 | 3 | 25-0 |
| 4. | Trinity (Tex.) | 215 | 4 | 24-1 |
| 5. | Smith (Mass.) | 210 | 5 | 24-1 |
| 6. | Hope (Mich.) | 200 | 6 | 23-2 |
| 7. | New York U. | 190 | 7 | 21-2 |
| 8. | DeSales (Pa.) | 185 | 8 | 24-1 |
| 9. | Hardin-Simmons (Tex.) | 170 | 9 | 23-2 |
| 10. | Messiah (Pa.) | 141 | 12 | 23-2 |
| 11. | Babson (Mass.) | 126 | 15 | 21-4 |
| 12. | Puget Sound (Wash.) | 115 | 16 | 21-4 |
| 13. | Baldwin Wallace | 110 | 11 | 21-4 |
| 14. | Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) | 104 | 18 | 23-2 |
| 15. | Ithaca (N.Y.) | 102 | 10 | 22-3 |
| 16. | Trinity (Conn.) | 101 | 17 | 21-4 |
| 17. | Chicago (Ill.) | 80 | 19 | 20-4 |
| t18. | Elizabethtown | 73 | 20 | 21-3 |
| t18. | Ohio Northern | 73 | 13 | 21-4 |
| 20. | Trine (Ind.) | 64 | 21 | 20-5 |
| 21. | Stevens (N.J.) | 59 | 14 | 21-4 |
| 22. | La Verne (Calif.) | 51 | 22 | 23-2 |
| 23. | Millikin (Ill.) | 48 | 23 | 21-4 |
| 24. | Washington and Jefferson (Pa.) | 29 | 24 | 23-2 |
| 25. | Roger Williams (R.I.) | 24 | NR | 22-3 |
Others receiving votes: Wartburg (20-5) 14; Loras (21-4) 13; Calvin (20-5) 11; Tufts (19-6) 9; Whitman (19-5) 6; UW-Whitewater (19-6) 5; Williams (18-7) 1