| Rank | Team | Comments | Prior | |
| 1 |  | Connecticut | The Huskies were off this week and will resume play on Monday night against Ohio State. | 1 |
| 2 |  | Notre Dame | Notre Dame had little problem with Toledo as they beat the Rockets 85-68 on Sunday on the road. | 3 |
| 3 |  | Baylor | Baylor beat Winthrop 140-32 last Thursday. The 108 point margin of victory is a big setback for women's basketball. | 2 |
| 4 |  | Maryland | Maryland beat Loyola (MD) 79-60 in their only game of the week. | 4 |
| 5 |  | South Carolina | Gamecocks step up in a big way with a win over a very good UCLA team by a score of 66-57 on Sunday. | 5 |
| 6 |  | Mississippi State | Mississippi State picked up a very nice road win at USC on Sunday 76-72 to highlight another strong week. | 6 |
| 7 |  | Louisville | The Cardinals are starting to find their groove as they have won five straight games. | 7 |
| 8 |  | Florida State | Florida State was off this week and will return to action on Monday night against North Florida. | 9 |
| 9 |  | UCLA | UCLA put forth a very nice effort on the road despite falling short against South Carolina on Sunday. | 10 |
| 10 |  | Ohio State | Buckeyes tuned up for Connecticut on Monday with an easy win over Alabama State 118-61 on Friday night. | 11 |
| 11 |  | Washington | Washington had no problem with Savannah State, cruising to a 87-36 victory for win number 800 in program history. | 12 |
| 12 |  | West Virginia | The 32 assists for the Mountaineers was the difference in a easy win over Longwood. | 13 |
| 13 |  | Stanford | Stanford struggled offensively from the perimeter in a 59-51 loss at Tennessee on Sunday. | 8 |
| 14 |  | Miami (FL) | The Hurricanes dominated FIU 69-49 as the defense is clicking on all cylinders for Miami. | 14 |
| 15 |  | Oklahoma | Oklahoma was off this week and will return to action against Xavier on Monday night. | 15 |
| 16 |  | Syracuse | Syracuse was off this week and will resume their season on Tuesday against Old Dominion. | 16 |
| 17 |  | Texas | The Longhorns are back over .500 after easy wins this week over UT Rio Grande and UT San Antonio. | 17 |
| 18 |  | Colorado | Colorado outlasted Mississippi Valley State to move on to 10-0 on the season. | 18 |
| 19 |  | South Florida | South Florida went off for 129 points against Saint Francis in their only game of the week. | 19 |
| 20 |  | Duke | Duke was off this week and will return to action next Wednesday against Villanova. | 21 |
| 21 |  | Oregon State | Oregon State racked up 93 points in an easy win over UC Davis and a trip to Vegas awaits for the Beavers. | 22 |
| 22 |  | Kentucky | Kentucky responds to the Arizona State loss very well with an efficient 59-36 win over Radford. | 23 |
| 23 |  | Arizona State | Two very rock solid wins over Middle Tennessee State and Oral Roberts this week for Arizona State. | 24 |
| 24 |  | Virginia Tech | Hokies get a very nice win at Auburn 92-87 to move to 11-0 on the season and have been a very nice surprise. | NR |
| 25 |  | DePaul | DePaul struggled mightily from the outside shooting the basketball against Temple in an 84-74 loss to the Owls. | 20 |
12/19 Women's Basketball Top 25 Rankings
Mon, 12/19/2016
