BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Women's Basketball Coaches Association as well as D3hoops.com released its final polls of the 2025-26 season Monday, March 23, with the Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team appearing in both. The Titans were slotted No. 15 in the
D3hoops.com Top-25 and 20th in the WBCA rendition.
The Green and White posted a 23-6 record on the year. IWU shared the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Regular Season Championship with a 15-1 league record, but went on to claim the league's tournament title and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Illinois Wesleyan advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, ending its season with an overtime loss at No. 7 Hope.
The Titans saw three earn postseason accolades with senior Ava Bardic (Lincolnshire, Ill.-Stevenson) headlining the group. Bardic was voted a D3hoops Fourth Team All-America pick, while she and senior Sawyer White (Downers Grove, Ill.-Montini Catholic) were named WBCA All-America Honorable Mention. Bardic also reeled in First Team All-Region 8 honors from D3hoops, was selected for the WBCA Senior All-Star game, and was a nominee for the CCIW's Most Outstanding Player of the Year. Bardic and White were unanimous First Team All-CCIW awardees, while White nabbed D3hoops Second Team All-Region status. The veteran duo were joined by freshman Caitlin Leyden (Park Ridge, Ill.-Maine South), who was a Second Team All-CCIW pick. Leyden made history as the program's first-ever recipient of the CCIW Newcomer of the Year award and went on to be named D3hoops.com's Region 8 Rookie of the Year.
Additionally, Illinois Wesleyan head coach Mia Smith and her staff of Brian Ehresman, Kate Bullman, Sammi Matoush, and Chad Cusac were named Co-CCIW Coaching Staff of the Year.
The Green and White finished the year ranked 16th in the NCAA's National Power Index (NPI) while playing a schedule that ranked 21st-toughest across Division III. IWU is set to return several key pieces from this year's roster with six graduating.
D3hoops.com women's Top 25, 2025-26 Final
Dropped out: No. 21 SUNY New Paltz; No. 22 UW-Whitewater; No. 25 UW-River Falls
Others receiving votes: UW-Whitewater 28; SUNY New Paltz 22; DePauw 11; Wisconsin Lutheran 9; Coe 7; Otterbein 6; UW-River Falls 5; UW-Platteville 4; William Paterson 2; Carnegie Mellon 1; Gettysburg 1
WBCA Coaches Poll, 2025-26 Final
|
Rank
|
School (Record)
|
Points
|
Rank in
Last Poll
|
First-Place Votes
|
|
1
|
Denison (30-2)
|
250
|
12
|
10
|
|
2
|
Scranton (32-1)
|
240
|
2
|
0
|
|
3
|
NYU (29-1)
|
230
|
1
|
0
|
|
4
|
UW-Oshkosh (28-4)
|
218
|
8
|
0
|
|
5
|
Washington and Lee (31-1)
|
189
|
3
|
0
|
|
6
|
Bates (26-4)
|
163
|
9
|
0
|
|
7
|
Johns Hopkins (27-2)
|
162
|
5
|
0
|
|
8
|
Hope (26-4)
|
154
|
6
|
0
|
|
9
|
Chicago (20-8)
|
151
|
20
|
0
|
|
10
|
Smith (28-2)
|
146
|
4
|
0
|
|
11
|
Bowdoin (25-3)
|
132
|
7
|
0
|
|
12
|
John Carroll (26-5)
|
124
|
11
|
0
|
|
13
|
Concordia-Moorhead (26-5)
|
118
|
25
|
0
|
|
14
|
Washington-St. Louis (21-7)
|
115
|
17t
|
0
|
|
15
|
Baldwin-Wallace (25-4)
|
108
|
10
|
0
|
|
16
|
Christopher Newport (24-5)
|
102
|
14
|
0
|
|
17
|
Ripon (26-3)
|
95
|
13
|
0
|
|
18
|
UW-La Crosse (21-10)
|
89
|
RV
|
0
|
|
19
|
Southern Maine (27-3)
|
80
|
21t
|
0
|
|
20
|
Illinois Wesleyan (23-6)
|
79
|
15
|
0
|
|
21
|
Ohio Wesleyan (21-6)
|
53
|
16
|
0
|
|
22
|
Carroll, WI (23-6)
|
44
|
17t
|
0
|
|
23
|
Bethel, MN (24-7)
|
40
|
RV
|
0
|
|
24t
|
Hardin-Simmons (24-6)
|
35
|
RV
|
0
|
|
24t
|
Trine (23-6)
|
35
|
24
|
0
|
Dropped Out: No. 19 William Paterson (25-3); No. 21 UW-Whitewater (20-9); No. 23 SUNY-Cortland (23-5).
Others receiving votes: William Paterson (25-3) 29; UW-Whitewater (20-9) 22; SUNY-New Paltz (26-3) 17; SUNY-Cortland (23-5) 12; Wisconsin Lutheran (24-6) 8; Messiah (24-5) 7; Transylvania (24-5) 2; Johnson & Wales (23-5) 1.
The WBCA NCAA Division III Coaches Poll Committee is composed of one head coach from each of the 10 NCAA Division III regions. The committee for the 2025-26 season: Samantha Crough, Regis (MA); Brad Fischer, UW-Oshkosh; Eric Harrison, Lehman; Jasen Jonus, Oglethorpe; Melissa Kolbe, Wittenberg; Casey Kushiyama, Puget Sound; Bobbi Morgan, Ursinus; Mia Smith, Illinois Wesleyan; Daphne Thompson, SUNY Oneonta; Kelly Thompson, Roger Williams.
