The Carthage College women's basketball team (9-2) was ranked 25th in the Jan. 3 "D3hoops.com" poll and 28th by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.

Defending-national-champion Amherst College (10-0, 21 first-place votes) was ranked first in the Jan. 3 “D3hoops.com” poll, followed by the University of Chicago (9-0, 3 first-place votes) second, George Fox University (11-0, 1 first-place vote) third, Calvin College (11-0) fourth, the University of Rochester (10-0) fifth, William Paterson College (12-0) sixth, DePauw University (9-1) seventh, national runner-up Washington University (Mo., 10-1) eighth, Wisconsin-Stevens Point (11-1) ninth, Muhlenberg College (9-0) 10th, Lewis & Clark College (11-0) 11th,  Williams College (10-0) 12th, Franklin College (11-0) 13th, Hope College (12-1) 14th and Juniata College (11-1) ranked 15th.  Carthage College (9-2) was ranked 25th in the “D3hoops.com” poll. 

Amherst (10-0, 5 first-place votes) was also ranked first in the Jan. 3 Women's Basketball Coaches Association/USA Today/ESPN NCAA Division III poll, followed by Chicago (9-0, 3 first-place votes) second, George Fox (11-0) third, Calvin (11-0) fourth, William Paterson (12-0) fifth, Rochester (10-0) sixth, DePauw (9-1) seventh, Wisconsin-Stevens Point (11-1) eighth, Washington (Mo., 10-1) ninth, Lewis & Clark (11-0) 10th, Muhlenberg (9-0) 11th, Hope (12-1) 13th, Wisconsin-River Falls (11-1) 14th and the University of Mary Washington (10-0) ranked 15th.  Carthage College (9-2) was ranked 28th the in WBCA poll.