Note: This is the final SA Women’s Top 20 for 1997.
| Rank/Team | Record | Last Week |
| 1. North Carolina | 22-0-1 | 1 |
| 2. Notre Dame | 20-0-1 | 2 |
| 3. Santa Clara | 17-2-1 | 4 |
| 4. Texas A&M | 18-2-0 | 6 |
| 5. Connecticut | 19-3-0 | 5 |
| 6. Nebraska | 17-3-0 | 7 |
| 7. Florida | 19-2-1 | 8 |
| 8. Portland | 14-4-0 | 3 |
| 9. William & Mary | 18-4-0 | 12 |
| 10. Clemson | 13-6-0 | 14 |
| 11. Hartford | 18-1-1 | 13 |
| 12. Virginia | 13-4-2 | 9 |
| 13. Maryland | 12-8-2 | 15 |
| 14. Duke | 14-5-1 | 10 |
| 15. SMU | 16-4-1 | 16 |
| 16. UCLA | 17-2-0 | 17 |
| 17. Minnesota | 17-2-2 | 11 |
| 18. Michigan | 18-3-1 | 20 |
| 19. Harvard | 11-3-2 | nr |
| 20. Georgia | 15-5-1 | 19 |