Women's Basketball ranked No. 17 in WBCA Top 25 Poll for week of Nov. 21
By Wes Mayberry
| WBCA NCAA III Top 25 Poll – Preseason - Nov. 21 |
ADA — The Ohio Northern women's basketball team is ranked No. 17 in this week's WBCA NCAA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll, which was released on Tuesday.
The Polar Bears received 73 points in the poll, falling seven spots after being ranked No. 10 and receiving 145 points in the preseason poll.
Defending national champion Transylvania (Ky.) is the top-ranked team in the poll, receiving 249 points and seven of the 10 first-place votes.
NYU, Christopher Newport (Va.), Trinity (Tex.) and Scranton (Pa.) round out the top five.
Fellow Ohio Athletic Conference schools Baldwin Wallace (No. 18) and Marietta (No. 25) are also ranked in the poll.
The Polar Bears are coming off a 68-65 loss at Wittenberg, which is ranked No. 21 this week, and an 82-62 win over Anderson (Ind.) to open their 2023-24 schedule.
Northern is playing at Ohio Wesleyan today at 4 p.m. and will close out the week hosting No. 16 Trine (Ind.) on Saturday at 2 p.m.
WBCA NCAA Division III Top 25 - Nov. 21, 2023
| Rank | School (First-place votes) | Points | Record | Previous Ranking |
| 1. | Transylvania (Ky.) (7) | 249 | 1-0 | 1 |
| 2. | NYU (1) | 238 | 4-0 | 2 |
| 3. | Christopher Newport (Va.) (2) | 234 | 6-0 | 3 |
| 4. | Trinity (Tex.) | 210 | 4-0 | 6 |
| 5. | Scranton (Pa.) | 207 | 3-0 | 5 |
| 6. | Rhode Island College | 192 | 2-0 | 7 |
| 7. | Hardin-Simmons (Tex.) | 185 | 3-0 | 8 |
| 8. | Hope (Mich.) | 171 | 4-0 | 12 |
| 9. | Wisconsin-Whitewater | 155 | 4-0 | 14 |
| 10. | Tufts (Mass.) | 154 | 3-1 | 9 |
| 11. | Trinity (Conn.) | 153 | 3-0 | 11 |
| 12. | Smith (Mass.) | 142 | 3-1 | 4 |
| 13. | Chicago (Ill.) | 124 | 4-0 | 17 |
| 14. | Wartburg (Iowa) | 121 | 3-0 | 16 |
| 15. | Millikin (Ill.) | 116 | 4-0 | 19 |
| 16. | Trine (Ind.) | 98 | 2-1 | 13 |
| 17. | Ohio Northern | 73 | 1-1 | 10 |
| 18. | Baldwin-Wallace | 60 | 2-1 | 20 |
| 19. | Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) | 53 | 1-0 | 23 |
| Whitman (Wash.) | 53 | 4-0 | 24 | |
| 21. | Wittenberg | 52 | 3-0 | NR |
| 22. | DeSales (Pa.) | 32 | 2-1 | 18 |
| 23. | Washington and Lee (Va.) | 30 | 4-0 | NR |
| 24. | Loras (Iowa) | 23 | 3-0 | NR |
| 25. | Marietta | 16 | 3-1 | 22 |
Others receiving votes: Mary Washington (4-1) 15; Roger Williams (1-1) 13; Babson (2-2) 11; Skidmore (4-1) 11; Carroll, WI (3-1) 10; Elizabethtown (3-1) 9; Mary Hardin-Baylor (3-1) 9; SUNY New Paltz (2-0) 9; Ithaca (3-1) 7; Messiah (2-1) 6; Stevens (4-1) 6; Gettysburg (2-1) 3; St. John Fisher (2-1) 3.