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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois women’s basketball has re-entered the national rankings, coming in at No. 25 in the Week 16 Associated Press Top-25 Poll. On an eight-game winning streak, the Fighting Illini hold a 21-5 record overall and an 11-4 mark in Big Ten play.
Holding the longest active winning streak in the Big Ten, the Orange and Blue are ranked in the Associated Press Top-25 Poll for the fifth time this season, the most weeks in the AP rankings since the 1999-2000 campaign when Illinois was included in 13 polls.
The Illini have been ranked in 10 combined AP polls under head coach Shauna Green. In 2022-23, the Orange and Blue appeared in four Top-25 polls, followed by the preseason rankings in 2023-24, the Week 2-5 polls in 2024-25, and this week’s poll.
After receiving votes in each of the previous two AP polls, the Illini have now entered the rankings as one of six Big Ten teams in the Week 16 list.
Illinois has now appeared in 73 AP polls all-time across 11 different seasons.
Green joins Naismith Hall of Famer Theresa Grentz as the only coaches in program history to lead their teams to AP Top-25 ranking appearances in three straight seasons. The last time Illinois was ranked in three straight seasons was a five-season span from 1996-97 through 2000-01.
Illinois has now registered a win over a ranked opponent for the third consecutive season, the longest streak since the 2005-06, 2006-07, and 2007-08 campaigns. The Orange and Blue have earned ranked wins over No. 19 Florida State (Nov. 7), No. 23 Iowa (Jan. 9), and No. 14 Maryland (Feb. 2) during their 2024-25 slate.
No. 25 Illinois heads to Los Angeles later this week for ranked road games against No. 3 UCLA (Thursday, 8:30 p.m. CT, Big Ten Network) and No. 4 USC (Sunday, 3 p.m. CT, FS1).
