The Oglethorpe women’s basketball team found themselves in the top 20 in both major polls Tuesday, moving up four spots to No. 19 in the D3hoops.com top 25 and jumping a spot to 11th in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) coaches poll. It served as the high-water mark for the Stormy Petrels in the D3hoops.com poll this season and tied for their highest ranking in the WBCA poll.
The Petrels moved to 17-1 over the weekend with a pair of victories over Birmingham-Southern and Millsaps, setting a new program standard for an 18-game start to a season. Oglethorpe has rolled to a 15-game win streak since their only loss of the season Nov. 15 at Emory and Henry. They hold a two-game lead midway through the SAA campaign, sporting a 7-0 league mark. The team currently leads the SAA in winning percentage (.944), scoring offense (74.1 points per game), scoring margin (13.2), rebounding (45.9 per game), rebound margin (9.7), field-goal percentage defense (33.6), and blocks (3.9 per game). They crack the nation’s top five in total points (1,333), free throws made (301), free throw attempts (438), total rebounds (827) and winning percentage. They’re 24th in the nation in rebounds per game.
Tufts maintained the top spot in the D3hoops poll, garnering 20 of a possible 25 first-place votes. Bowdoin nabbed a top vote and held at No. 2, while Hope garnered the other four and stayed at No. 3. DePauw and Amherst switched places from last week’s poll and came in at fourth and fifth, respectively. Wisconsin-Whitewater, Wartburg, Loras, Transylvania and Bethel (Minnesota) rounded out the top 10.
The WBCA poll sported the same top five as the D3hoops one, with Tufts garnering seven of eight first-place votes and Hope grabbing the other. Transylvania held down the No. 8 spot in the coaches poll, with Whitman sliding in at ninth. The remainder of the top 10 was the same in both polls.
The Petrels served as the only SAA team to earn a vote in either poll. Emory, who the Petrels beat 76-72 Dec. 3 at Dorough Field House, entered the rankings at 25th in the D3hoops poll and 22nd in the WBCA.
Oglethorpe hits the road this weekend, traveling to Jackson, Mississippi, to take on Millsaps Friday at 7 p.m. Eastern. They’ll continue to Alabama on Sunday to go against Birmingham-Southern at 2 p.m.