WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball team collected its sixth straight victory to open the season last Tuesday with a 64-49 nonconference victory over UW-La Crosse.
 
And the Cardinals impressive start to the season—Saint Mary's longest season-opening winning streak since 1985-86, when it opened the year with 19 consecutive wins—has not gone unnoticed.
 
Saint Mary's continued to climb up the ladder in two national polls, as the Cardinals—ranked No. 17 in both polls last week—jumped to No. 14 in the latest USA Today Sports Coaches Poll, while coming in at No. 16 in the D3hoops.com Top 25.
 
The Cardinals, who begin defense of their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season title Wednesday evening at Hamline, are one of two conference schools in both national polls. St. Thomas is ranked eighth in both polls.
 
The two polls agree on the top five teams, but in slightly different order.

Defending national champion FDU-Florham (5-0) landed 18 first-place votes to sit atop the D3hoops.com poll, followed by Amherst (3-0), Thomas More (4-0), Tufts and Washington (Mo.) University (5-0). In the USA Today Sports Coaches Poll, FDU-Florham is No. 1, followed by Thomas More, Tufts, Amherst and Washington (Mo.) University.
 
The D3hoops.com Top 25 is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country, and is published weekly.
 
The USA Today Sports board of coaches is made up of nine head coaches at NCAA Division III institutions and are all members of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).

D3hoops.com Top 25 | USA Today Sports Coaches Poll