The history of Illinois Wesleyan as No. 1 in Division III women's basketball is short.

It is, however, recent. The Titans spent the last six weeks of the 2008-09 season in the No. 1 spot. And they returned to that position this week in the newest D3hoops.com Top 25.

The Titans grabbed the top spot with 14 No. 1 votes, thanks in no small part to a 58-53 home win against preseason No. 1 Washington U. and helped out by an 84-80 home win against UW-Stevens Point on Saturday. Amherst remained in the No. 2 spot, with four No. 1 votes, with Hope just behind in the overall vote count and picking up the remaining seven votes.

Holly Harvey tells us more about IWU's early-season success and will be blogging all season as an Insider. Read Harvey's latest blog post.

In the men's poll, Wash U remains the unanimous No. 1 selection. The Bears host NAIA Division I No. 5-ranked McKendree on Friday at their Lopata Classic tournament. McKendree is coached by Harry Statham, who has won more than 1,000 career college basketball games, the only men's coach at a four-year school at any level to do so.