NUWBB climbs to No. 18 in latest AP Top 25 rankings

The Wildcat women just keep on moving up.

After winning two thrilling games this past week and extending its overall win streak to five games, Northwestern slotted in at No. 18 in Monday’s AP Top 25 — the highest ranking the ‘Cats have seen all season. They moved up just from last week’s No. 19 ranking, and still remain behind No. 7 Maryland as far as Big Ten teams go. NU jumped now-No. 19 Iowa in this week’s poll after the Hawkeyes were crushed by the Terps midweek.

As things stand, Northwestern is on pace to complete by far its best regular season in Joe McKeown’s 12-year tenure, and perhaps even the best season in program history. With five games remaining in the regular season, the ‘Cats sit just a half-game behind the best record in the conference at 12-2. They should also be the favorite in these next five games, leaving a 17-2 conference finish and potential regular season Big Ten title very much in the picture.

On top of playing for a conference championship, the Wildcats also find themselves battling for a chance to host games come March in the NCAA Tournament. If NU can secure a Top 4 seed come selection time, Welsh-Ryan Arena will host some first and second round games of the Big Dance. That would obviously be electric.

Northwestern is the second of four Big Ten teams in the rankings, which can be seen here.

The action continues this Wednesday as NU plays host to Rutgers at Welsh-Ryan Arena for a 7 p.m. tipoff. You’re not gonna want to miss it, folks.