With the holiday season upon us, it's a time to think, especially for NCAA women's basketball, which doesn't resume play until Friday. Here are the latest AP Top 25 polls after Week 7 of the season.
Top 25 women's college basketball rankings by Associated Press:
- University of California Los Angeles
- south carolina
- notre dame cathedral
- University of Southern California
- texas
- LSU
- university university
- maryland
- oklahoma
- ohio
- TCU
- Kansas
- Georgia Tech
- duke
- tennessee
- kentucky
- north carolina
- west virginia
- michigan
- Alabama
- Cal
- north carolina
- michigan
- iowa
- Ole Miss
Other people to vote for: Nebraska 26, Vanderbilt 19, Utah 18, Illinois 8, Oklahoma St. 7, Harvard 3, Baylor 1, Florida St. 1.
Top 10 Blockbuster Battles You Get What You Pay For
On Saturday night, the No. 7 USC Trojans had the difficult task of leaving warm California for the cold December heat of Connecticut for a game against the No. 4 UConn Huskies.
It was not only a battle of two teams ranked in the top 10, but also a head-to-head showdown between the top two players in NCAA women's basketball, featuring USC's JuJu Watkins and UConn's Paige Bueckers.
The Huskies had guard Aji Fuad in his first game back from a knee injury and were looking to repeat their previous success against the Trojans. April 1, 2024 UConn cruised to an 80-73 victory over the young Trojans in the Elite Eight, but early Saturday night that seemed like a distant memory.
USC got off to a flying start and went on a 9-0 run, allowing just three shots to the home team in the first 3 minutes and 48 seconds of the game. Watkins scored five of those points and led all first-quarter scorers with 10 points, giving the Trojans a 24-15 lead after 10 minutes.
University's score could not catch up in the first half. Fudd returned, but only eight minutes off the bench and was scoreless on 0-of-4 shooting, as USC defended the Buccaneers well and held the Stars to just seven points in the first half. The Trojans went into halftime with a 13-point lead in front of a stunned crowd at Hartford's XL Center.
Coming out of halftime, Watkins continued his outstanding performance with a highlight-reel block in the first minute. The Buccaneers attempted their first 3-point shot of the quarter, but Watkins came flying from the Buccaneers' right, brushed the ball away, and drove it into the court. Watkins finished the play under 3-on-1 pressure in the paint, which foreshadowed the rest of the game.
In the final 20 minutes, University didn't give Watkins much breathing room. Every time the sophomore touched the ball, two defenders closed in on him. Still, Watkins was able to lead the Trojans, scoring 10 points in the second half on 3-of-6 shooting. As a byproduct of the pressure, the Los Angeles native had three assists.
But Bueckers found his progress. Teaming with freshman forward Sarah Strong, the two got University back in the game. The duo combined for 13 points in the third quarter, matching the Trojans, whose offense slowed with Watkins held in check.
After trailing by 18 points, UConn cut the lead to two possessions entering the fourth quarter and ultimately defeated the Trojans with a seven-point run with 4:34 remaining.
At that time, Watkins, who had not scored since 8:01 of the third quarter, was replaced.
Watkins scored six of the Trojans' final eight points of the game, holding off Buccaneer and Strong. The freshman forward had a career day, posting 25 points, 13 rebounds and five assists, showing he is at the top of the 2024 recruiting rankings, but the game could go into overtime in the final minutes. He missed two important shots. .
Trailing by three points with five seconds left, Strong went for a 3-point shot, but Watkins fouled out and made three from the free-throw line. After making the first shot, Strong missed his next two shots. Strong scored a try with one second left, but missed the game-winning goal, giving USC a 72-70 victory before the Big Ten game.
Watkins had 25 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Buccaneers had 22 points and three rebounds.
USF wins big against ranked opponent
USF Bulls head coach Jose Fernandez isn't afraid to schedule his program against tough opponents. On Saturday, the Bulls welcomed No. 9. duke blue devils To Tampa Bay. It was the seventh of 13 games to start the season against a team from a power conference.
Of those matchups, Duke was the No. 5 team facing USF. Previously, the Bulls lost to the South Carolina Gamecocks, TCU, Louisville and Collegiate Con.
On Saturday, everything came together for Fernandes' team.
Duke, known as a solid defensive team under head coach Carla Lawson, got a taste of its own medicine in the first quarter. USF forced eight turnovers in the first 10 minutes, leading to 11 points for the Bulls.
USF held Duke to six points in the first quarter, but things didn't go well in the second quarter either. The Blue Devils didn't turn the ball over often, but their shots weren't on the verge of falling, making 3-of-14 from the floor. Fernandez's program held Duke to 15 points in 20 minutes and held an 18-point lead going into halftime.
In the second half, Duke began to try to mount a comeback, but mistakes continued to plague the ACC program. One example of this came on Duke's fast break. Raygan Richardson led a 3-1 run with a goal. Instead of finding his teammate, Richardson delayed possession and turned to find a guard at the top of the arc, instead passing directly to a USF player.
It was one of those days for Duke, despite outscoring the Bulls 21-9 in the third quarter and scoring 10 points from the end of the third quarter to the fourth. USF held on with Duke sending them to the line frequently in the fourth quarter in an effort to buy them more time. USF fought back by going 13-of-14 from the final line for a 65-56 victory.
Big Ten Teams Falls
Entering Week 7, the Big Ten had eight teams in the top 25, the most of any conference in the country. Following the rankings, conferences across the country played five games against power conference opponents. The University of Southern California defeated the University Huskies, and 11th-ranked Ohio State defeated the unranked Stanford Cardinals by 25 points. The other three programs didn't give me such good times.
First, it was number 20. michigan wolverines face number 10 oklahoma sooners At the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, North Carolina. Led by a trio of dynamic freshmen, the Wolverines went head-to-head against the Sooners but couldn't stop fouling.
Photo by Matt Kelly/Getty Images
The top two teams entered the second half tied at 30-30, but Oklahoma's size and experience overwhelmed the SEC side. The Sooners outscored the Wolverines 24-18 in the second half, forcing them to the basket 18 times. Oklahoma outscored Michigan 11-6 from the line in the second half, and even though Reagan Beers fouled out for just nine points in 20 minutes on the night, the Wolverines couldn't capitalize, trailing 72-62. Defeated.
Among the whistles was Michigan State team leader Jordan Hobbs, who scored 14 points in 24 minutes before fouling out.
On Friday in West Palm Beach, Fla., the No. 15 Michigan State University Spartans, who are 11-0 and breaking a program record, faced a team previously ranked at 11-1. alabama crimson tide. The two power conference teams traded leads nine times in the first half, but Alabama quickly turned things around in the second half and never looked back.
After splitting the first 12 points of the second half, the Crimson Tide built a 14-point lead and scored 25 of the final 30 points of the quarter. Alabama held on, and Michigan State suffered its first loss of the season with an 82-67 SEC victory.
With this win, the Crimson Tide returned to the top 25 (currently 20th place) for the first time in three weeks after losing to the California Golden Bears.
No. 23 Nebraska was the Big Ten's final loss of the week. Like the Spartans, the Cornhuskers got off to a strong start, but Georgia Tech dominated in the second quarter. Without sophomore forward Natalie Potts, who suffered a season-ending knee injury earlier this season, Nebraska would not have been able to overcome the Yellow Jackets' size and ability.
Georgia Tech pulled away at the end of the first game but relented. The ACC program outscored the Cornhuskers bench 39-22, with freshman Dani Carnegie scoring 20 points and grabbing eight rebounds in 20 minutes.
The 72-61 loss was the Cornhuskers' second of the season, both losses since Potts went down, and it doesn't get much easier from here. On Sunday, Nebraska plays two games in four days against the No. 1 UCLA Bruins in Los Angeles, then plays the Trojans on New Year's Day.
Despite the results, Georgia Tech continued to improve on its program record of 13-0 to begin the season, making it an early leader among this year's surprise teams.
Other stories this week
- Colorado welcomed No. 14. west virginia mountaineers They traveled to Boulder on Saturday night and earned a 65-60 upset victory over the Mountaineers.
- The Belmont Bruins gave it their all this week against a top-25 team, falling just short to 16th place. kentucky wildcats Friday it was 84-78. Earlier this season, the Bruins held a second-half lead against the Ohio State Buckeyes, but freshman Gialloni Cambridge led Ohio State to victory.
- Before succumbing to the Trojans, the UConn Huskies defeated previously ranked teams iowa cyclone At 101-68, the Iowa State team fell into yet another loss, suffering its second loss of the week to unranked Oklahoma State, falling to 9-5.
