The calendar page turns to 2025 and the first full week of women's college basketball returns this week. All conferences now have a full run of league play, with the top 25 ranked teams playing against programs inside and outside the weekly AP poll.
Among them: With one SEC team falling behind and another coming close to giving up an 18-point lead in the third quarter, the Los Angeles school is poised for a strong performance in the conference. I continued to show that.
Here's how all the teams stack up.
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
- ohio
- oklahoma
- TCU
- Kansas
- Georgia Tech
- duke
- kentucky
- tennessee
- west virginia
- Alabama
- north carolina
- michigan
- north carolina
- Utah
- iowa
- Cal
- michigan
Other people to vote for: 18 Florida Street, 18 Vanderbilt, 14 Mississippi, 10 Harvard, 7 Minnesota, 5 Oklahoma Street, 2 Washington, 1 Mississippi Street.
Texas freshman shines
January 2nd, 5th texas longhorns They traveled north to No. 9 Oklahoma State to restart the Red River rivalry. It was the first time the two teams met on the new SEC women's basketball court after both teams left the Big 12 in the offseason.
Going into the game, new Sooner transfer Regan Beers played in the rivalry's first game, and Texas standout Madison Booker was hoping to continue his strong form in the two games against Oklahoma. , both of which the Longhorns lost, set up a big storyline. Neither Beals nor Booker played more than 20 minutes due to foul trouble, and the two All-Americans combined for 19 points and 10 rebounds.
That meant a variety of names were needed to step up early in the game, and Texas needed all the help it could get. In the second quarter, Oklahoma had already built a 12-point lead in front of a friendly Norman, Oklahoma, crowd. Leading by a dozen with 8:38 left in the second quarter, the Longhorns turned to Miami transfer Kyla Oldaker.
With Beals on the bench due to foul trouble, Old Daker controlled the game in the paint, scoring six points, four of which came from the free throw line, and Oklahoma did everything it could to stop the bigs. Ta. Point guard Lori Harmon added six points of her own in the quarter, and Texas scored 20 of the final 27 points of the second period to take a one-point lead into the halftime locker room.
Oklahoma State tied the score at the end of the third quarter, but in the fourth quarter, the home team had a series of turnovers and inefficient shots. The Longhorns forced eight turnovers and held Oklahoma to 37.5 percent shooting.
Freshman guard Jordan Lee replaced head coach Vic Schaefer as Booker was held up with a foul. Lee participated on Tuesday and averaged 16 minutes and 5.9 points per game. The freshman surpassed both of those in the first half alone, going 3-of-6 from the floor and scoring nine points in 19 minutes.
Lee finished the day leading the Longhorns with 17 points in a career-high 33 minutes.
After the game, Schaefer praised Lee for making the big shots, adding, “If we can get her to rebound a little bit more, I think she's going to be a really good player.”
Oklahoma bounces back and escapes Knoxville
Oklahoma State's road wasn't as easy on Sunday as it traveled to Tennessee to take on the undefeated Volunteers. But the Sooners looked pretty easy against a young Vols team led by first-year coach Kim Caldwell from the University of Tennessee.
With 3:49 left in the third quarter, Oklahoma held a 19-point lead and the Vols looked destined for their first loss in the Caldwell era. But in the fourth quarter, Tennessee showed it still had some fight left.
Tennessee stepped up its defense, forcing eight turnovers from the Sooners in the fourth quarter. Offensively, the Vols took 19 shots and were hit by 11, leading to a one-point lead with 40 seconds left.
Photo by Brian Lin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
On what appeared to be the final possession, the Tennessee defense got the ball back on an Oklahoma turnover, marking the end of a season-high 31 points for the Sooners. The home team had nine seconds and all they needed to do to win was a layup, a foul, and a free throw.
Tennessee put together a play, but once the ball was in the hands of Sarah Paquette, the senior forward was wide open at the top of the arc. Reagan Beers sacked a 24 percent 3-point shooter and almost hit her with three seconds left in the game. Puckett complied, slamming the ball in front of the rim and into the waiting hands of Beals, sealing Oklahoma's victory.
Peyton Wallhast led the Sooners with 16 points and five rebounds. Tennessee's Jewel Spear led all scorers with 28 points on 6-of-11 shooting from deep, including 11 points in the fourth quarter.
This week's loss and win at Oklahoma moves the Sooners down one spot to No. 10, while Tennessee also drops one spot to No. 16.
South Carolina and universities continue to suffer injuries
2nd place South Carolina Shamcocks and 7th place university university The Huskies each continued their undefeated conference schedule last week, but a knee injury occurred in each game that could impact the team as the season continues.
In the second quarter of the Gamecocks' 96-68 win over Mississippi State, junior forward Ashlyn Watkins attempted a contested layup but landed awkwardly on her feet, forcing the forward to leave the game.
Head coach Dawn Staley did not provide an update on the injury after the game, but Watkins was treated at the arena and did not need to go to the hospital. Watkins playing a key role off the bench for the Gamecocks is a story to watch in the coming days. This season, Watkins appeared in 14 games, averaging 7.2 points and 6.1 rebounds while playing 18.9 minutes per game, ahead of starting forward Chloe Kitz.
Then, in the third quarter when the Huskies won 83-52. villanovawhen Jasmine Bascoe jumped onto the court to take the ball, starting guard Paige Bueckers went to the ground and chased the ball, landing on Bueckers' leg and bending it awkwardly. The Buccaneers left the game and did not return.
After the win, head coach Geno Auriemma was optimistic about the knee injury, saying, “She's going to be okay.” she looks nice. I'm optimistic, let me tell you that. I feel good. “
Auriemma later compared the injury to a similar knee problem for Aggie Fudd, who missed a month in 2022. The Buccaneers celebrated their 100th college game over the weekend after an injury-plagued college career. The Buccaneers missed the entire 2022-23 season due to a knee injury.
UW is fine playing in the Big East without the Buccaneers, but the Huskies have games against Tennessee and South Carolina between now and Feb. 16.
Other stories this week
- No.8 maryland terrapin They continued their program-record season start Sunday, traveling to Iowa City to take on the No. 23 player. iowa hawkeyes. Kaylen Smickle and Shan'ann Sellers led the Terrapins with 26 and 17 points, respectively, in a 74-66 win.
- No.3 notre dame cathedral Moved to Tobacco Road and defeated No. 17 north carolina tar heels Guard Hannah Hidalgo and her team's 13 three-pointers led to a 24-point lead, 76-66.
- No.25 Ole Miss They lost 60-58 to an unranked opponent, scoring eight points in the fourth quarter but allowing a 12-point lead in the fourth, but falling outside the top 25 for the first time this season. Texas A&M.
