NAPERVILLE, Ill. - Illinois Wesleyan University was the pick among the conference’s nine head coaches to win the 2026-27 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin women’s basketball crown. The Titans received 63 points and seven first-place votes, fending off North Central College and Carroll University, each of whom also received a first-place vote. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own teams in accordance with the poll's voting procedures.
Coming off a season in which it tied for the CCIW regular season title and then won an overtime thriller to claim the CCIW Tournament title, Illinois Wesleyan is picked to repeat this season. Head coach Mia Smith returns Caitlin Leyden, a Second Team All-CCIW selection last season and the D3hoops.com Region Rookie of the Year, as well as another of last year’s starters in Asia Kobylarczyk as the Titans look to make another deep postseason run.
North Central took second in the preseason poll with 54 points and one first-place vote. The Cardinals and head coach Maggie Bax return four starters, including one of two returning First Team All-CCIW selections from last season. Jocelyn Trotter took that honor after starting all 26 games for NCC and averaging 11.7 points and 7.5 boards on the year.
Carroll was one of last season’s CCIW co-champions in the regular season along with Illinois Wesleyan and first-year head coach Brie Murphy will aim to maintain the standard the Pioneers have set in recent seasons. Carroll was third in the poll with 50 points and one first-place vote and a featured role is likely for Julia Lokker after a season in which she was a Second Team All-CCIW selection, canning 42 three-pointers and posting an average of 13.8 points per game from a reserve role.
Carthage College and Elmhurst University tied for fourth in the poll, each ending up with 41 points. The return of Second Team All-CCIW sharpshooter Nora Ahram is a key aspect for head coach Megan Jones and the Firebirds after a 15-win campaign that ended in the CCIW Tournament semifinals.
Elmhurst is the lone team in the CCIW this season to return two all-conference selections from a year ago. First-teamer Kristin Bukata and second-teamer Natalie Harty are two of the four starters back in the fold for the Bluejays and head coach Cameron Tucker. Bukata is the CCIW’s leading returning scorer after averaging 17.4 points per game, while doubling as the conference’s leader by a wide margin in assists last year at 7.4 per game.
Wheaton was slotted into sixth place in the poll, finishing with 27 points. The Thunder reached the CCIW semifinals last season as the No. 6 seed in the tournament and will rely on the return of three starters off of that team for another postseason run under head coach Kent Madsen.
In seventh place in the poll was Augustana College with 23 points. Head coach Mark Beinborn has three starters back from a year ago, but Tia Lewis may be primed for a bigger role after scoring 11 points per game while coming off the bench for the Vikings.
Millikin University was eighth in the poll, tallying 17 points. Head coach Kirsten Hammer will look to build off the return of Second Team All-CCIW selection Nikkel Johnson down low for the Big Blue. Johnson is the leading returning rebounder in the league after grabbing 7.7 per game last year. She also poured in 16.5 points per game while shooting over 61 percent from the floor. Z
Finishing ninth in the poll with eight points was North Park University. First-year head coach Kira Mowen will have four returning starters at her disposal including Second Team All-CCIW selection Aliyah Hershberger. Hershberger will undoubtedly play an important part once again after averaging over 37 minutes per contest last season for NPU and scoring 14.1 points per game.
Regular-season competition tips off with a handful of games on Nov. 6. Four games begin CCIW play on Dec. 2, with Illinois Wesleyan traveling to Elmhurst, North Central visiting Carroll, Millikin trekking to Augustana, and Wheaton making the journey to Carthage. The regular season will conclude on Feb. 20, followed by the CCIW Tournament for the top six in the final standings. Quarterfinals will be played on Feb. 23, followed by the semifinals on Feb. 25 and the championship game on Feb. 27.
Games played at CCIW venues can be streamed for free throughout the season on the CCIW Network.
| Projected Place |
Team |
Points |
Votes for First |
Votes for Second |
Votes for Third |
| 1 |
Illinois Wesleyan |
63 |
7 |
1 |
- |
| 2 |
North Central |
54 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
| 3 |
Carroll |
50 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| T4 |
Carthage |
41 |
- |
1 |
2 |
| T4 |
Elmhurst |
41 |
- |
- |
3 |
| 6 |
Wheaton |
27 |
- |
- |
- |
| 7 |
Augustana |
23 |
- |
- |
- |
| 8 |
Millikin |
17 |
- |
- |
- |
| 9 |
North Park |
8 |
- |
- |
- |
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The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services nine member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, Ill.), Carroll University (Waukesha, Wis.), Carthage College (Kenosha, Wis.), Elmhurst University (Elmhurst, Ill.), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, Ill.), Millikin University (Decatur, Ill.), North Central College (Naperville, Ill.), North Park University (Chicago, Ill.) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, Ill.).