The Louisiana College women's basketball team achieved it's highest ranking of the year in the USA Today ESPN polls on Tuesday, jumping from previous high 18th to No. 15 in the nation.
Earlier in the day, the Lady Cats learned that they'd earned the No. 17 spot in the week's D3Hoops.com poll, not a bad sign for a team that is about to host its first ever American Southwest Conference tournament.

The extensive USA Today EASPN Top 25 was as follows:

USA TODAY ESPN Top 25 women's basketball poll, with first-place votes noted on the right, total points based on 25 points for first place through one point for 25th.
Rank Institution - First Place Votes
Previous Ranking

Record

Points
1 Amherst College (Mass.)
2 Kean University (N.J.)
3 Illinois Wesleyan University (Ill.)
4 Hope College (Mich.)
5 George Fox University (Ore.)
6 Washington University (Mo.)
7 Marymount University (Va.)
8 William Paterson University (N.J.)
9 Christopher Newport University (Va.)
10 Moravian College (Pa.)
11 Calvin College (Mich.)
12 Carthage College (Wis.)
13 University of Puget Sound (Wash.)
14 DePauw University (Ind.)
15 Louisiana College (La.)
16 Thomas More College (Ky.)
T17 University of Scranton (Pa.)
T17 Washington & Jefferson College (Pa.)
T19 Lebanon Valley College (Pa.)
T19 University of Chicago (Ill.)
21 Messiah College (Pa.)
22 Colby College (Maine)
23 Tufts University (Mass.)
24 Muhlenberg College (Pa.)
25 Mount Union College (Ohio)

Dropped Out: University of Mary Washington (Va.), State University of New York at Farmingdale.

Others Receiving Votes: University of Mary Washington (Va.) - 9; Bowdoin College (Maine) - 7; State University of New York at Farmingdale - 7; Gettysburg College (Pa.) - 6; Hendrix College (Ark.) - 4; Ithaca College (N.Y.) - 4; State University of New York at Cortland - 3.

The USA TODAY ESPN board of coaches is made up of nine head coaches at Division III institutions. All are members of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). The 2009-10 board: Nan Carney-DeBord - Non-voting Chair (Ohio Wesleyan University), Amie Bradley (Trinity University), Doreen Carden (Albion College), G.P. Gromacki (Amherst College), James Scheible (University of Rochester), Michele Sharp (Kean University), Mike Strong (University of Scranton), Nancy Fahey (Washington University-St. Louis) and Suzy Barcomb (University of Puget Sound).