Texas A&M made a big leap in my Power 10 ranking this week thanks to one of the strongest resumes and one of the best records in the country. In addition, two major surprises in ACC and Pac-12 have shaken the rest of the standings.
Here are my Power 10 ratings for Week 14 of women’s college basketball (last week’s ratings in parentheses):
1. UConn (1) – The Huskies return as team # 1. They remained undefeated in the Big East with wins over Seton Hall and Xavier in Week 13.
2. Texas A&M (5) – The Aggies extended their streak of eight consecutive victories, defeating Ole Miss on Sunday. In addition, Texas A&M is 8-0 this season against qualified teams. This is the best brand in the country and a big reason why I moved them three positions. The Aggies’ only defeat (20-1) was in overtime for LSU on 14 January. They have redeemed themselves ever since, defeating the Tigers on February 4.
Just another day at the office 😊#GigEm pic.twitter.com/d7moHXkw2K
– Texas A&M Women’s Basketball (@AggieWBB) February 21, 2021
3. South Carolina (2) –The Gamecocks fell one position after suffering their first SEC loss. Tennessee won 75-65 on February 18, beating the sequence of 31 consecutive SEC games in the South Carolina regular season. Gamecocks resumed the conference game with a classification victory over No. 17 Kentucky, by 76 -55.
4. NC State (4) – After falling to disqualified North Carolina on February 7, NC State has recovered and is currently in a three-game winning streak that included 82-63 revenge against the Tarheels. Jakia Brown-Turner and Kayla Jones have 45 points. Elissa Cunane had a double-double performance with 17 points and 14 rebounds.
5. Louisville (3) – The State of Florida gave Louisville its second turn of the season, 68-59, ending Week 13. The Cardinals’ scoring machine, Dana Evans, had just 13 points, the lowest she scored this season.
WEEKEND RECAP: Florida State drops No. 3 Louisville, Oregon State drops No. 8 UCLA to end Week 13 in women’s college basketball
6. Baylor (6) – The Bears moved away from the half-time draw to beat Oklahoma 77-66 on Sunday. The Big 12’s No. 1 scoring defense kept the Sooners with 28 percent shots in the second half, while four Bears ended with double-digit digits. DiJonai Carrington leads with 19 points.
7. Maryland (7) – Terps surpassed the ten opponents of Big Ten Illinois and Minnesota by a further 30 positive points in each competition. Maryland is now 12-1 at the conference and leads the Big Ten ranking.
8. Stanford (8) – The cardinal is on a nine-game winning streak after beating Oregon in 13th by two points on Monday and in Arizona by double digits on Friday. Kiana Williams led the Cardinal’s attack in both competitions. The cardinal will be tasked with limiting the offensive attack by All-American guard Aari McDonald tonight in a Pac-12 clash against Arizona.
Klutch @Kiana__W 🥶
A great performance on a great stage‼ ️#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/00TWecFldT
– Stanford Women’s Basketball (@StanfordWBB) February 17, 2021
9. Arizona (10) – Since the Wildcats’ 17-day break due to the COVID-19 protocols, they have extended their streak of four consecutive wins against California on Friday. Tonight, Arizona faces Stanford’s immense depth in hopes of balancing the two-game series against Cardinal.
10. UCLA (9) – The Bruins started Week 13 hard, defeating Oregon on Thursday, but were unable to finish their work against Oregon State on Sunday. With only six points to lose with less than 3 minutes left, Michaela Onyenwere scored two consecutive layups to narrow the gap to two, but the Beavs recovered with an 8-0 run in the final stretch.
