A busy week in women’s college basketball causes some shakeup in this week’s top 25.
South Carolina claimed a share of the regular season SEC title after defeating an injury-ridden Tennessee team on Sunday afternoon. The Gamecocks’ offense was far from outstanding, but their rebounding and defense continues to impress, and so they hold on to to the top spot in our poll. Haley Jones lead Stanford to a second half comeback over Oregon to keep the Cardinal locked in at the second spot. NC State put up points in both their matchups last week, averaging just over 93 points per game, and will look to carry their momentum into a tough end of the season matchup at Virginia Tech on Sunday. Heading into the final week of the regular season, they rise one notch to three. Louisville drops one spot to four after losing a tight battle at North Carolina on Thursday, but the Cardinals rebounded big by defeating Virginia Tech. Kim Mulkey and the LSU Tigers round out this week’s top five after picking up wins over Mississippi State and Florida last week. They sit second in SEC standings heading into the final week of conference play.
Baylor comes in at six, with Iowa State following at seven. The Bears and Cyclones are slated to meet one more time before the season ends in a matchup that could have major seeding implications. Arizona was upset by Washington State and falls to eight, and Michigan re-enters the top 10 at nine after knocking off Maryland. Texas blew out Iowa State and picked up a big road win at West Virginia; the Longhorns travel to Kansas State this week and with a win, look to be a top 10 team heading into the postseason.
UConn slides one spot to 11 this week with Maryland coming in right behind at 12. The Terrapins will finish the season Friday by hosting a sliding Indiana team, who currently sit at 13. The Hoosiers dropped two of three last week and have matchups with two more ranked conference opponents this week. Tennessee dropped back-to-back road losses and lost leading scorer and rebounder Jordan Horston for an unknown amount of time. They need to finish the season strongly if they want to remain a top 16 seed and host the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament. For now, the Lady Vols sit 14. Ohio State slides up three spots to round out the top 15.
Notre Dame defeated Georgia Tech last week to climb to 16, and they will look to avenge an earlier loss against Louisville this week to close the season. BYU comes in at 17, and after back-to-back losses, Oklahoma sits at 18. Florida missed too many free throws against LSU, but the Gators have a favorable schedule to end the season and currently sit third in the SEC. They claim spot 19 this week, with Iowa rounding out the top 20.
North Carolina knocked off Louisville at home to jump to 21. The Tar Heels seem to have hit their stride heading into postseason play, and could make a deep Tournament run. Georgia dropped a game at Auburn and falls to 22. Georgia Tech fell twice last week and drops to 23 in the poll. The Yellow Jackets will need a deep conference tournament run to help their seeding in the NCAA Tournament; they’ll finish the season with back-to-back road games at Florida State and Wake Forest. It was an interesting week off the court for Nebraska, as associate head coach Chuck Love has been suspended and starter Ashley Scoggins has been removed from the roster. Nevertheless, the Huskers climb back into the poll at 24. Oregon put up a fight against Stanford but couldn’t hang on, but still, the Ducks edge out Virginia Tech for the final spot in this week’s poll.
Top 25
- South Carolina
- Stanford
- NC State
- Louisville
- LSU
- Baylor
- Iowa State
- Arizona
- Michigan
- Texas
- UConn
- Maryland
- Indiana
- Tennessee
- Ohio State
- Notre Dame
- BYU
- Oklahoma
- Florida
- Iowa
- North Carolina
- Georgia
- Georgia Tech
- Nebraska
- Oregon
RV: Virginia Tech, Florida Gulf Coast, Oregon State, Kansas State, UCF, Ole Miss