South Carolina women's basketball sticks at No. 2 spot in ranking despite country's best resume
South Carolina women’s basketball added another top 5 victory this weekend (a 66-56 smothering of the LSU Tigers) to move their overall record to 19-1 and their conference mark to a perfect 7-0. Since losing to UCLA back in November, the Gamecocks have been the country’s most impressive team. Because of their 14-game win streak (with each victory coming by double-digit points), Dawn Staley’s squad is closing the gap on the Bruins at the top of the AP top 25.
[Win tickets: South Carolina-Auburn WBB]
When the Associated Press updated its rankings on Monday, South Carolina remained at No. 2. Once again, the Gamecocks earned one first-place vote despite growing sentiment nationally that they are the most impressive group in the country. Last week, USC picked up just one first-place vote, as well. However, this week, Notre Dame’s two first-place votes disappeared. Both votes moved over to UCLA.
UCLA has held onto the country’s top spot for the last two months, and the Bruins deserve it. Cori Close’s team remains undefeated (the only team in college basketball with that distinction), beat the Gamecocks head-to-head, and dispatched a top-10 Maryland team by double figures on Sunday.
Even so, South Carolina women’s basketball owns the best resume in the country.
The Gamecocks lead the country with both nine Quad 1 victories and 12 combined Quad 1 and Quad 2 wins. If UCLA slips up, even once, Carolina will overtake them in the rankings.
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Southern Cal, LSU, and Ohio State all match the Gamecocks with just one loss, but the trio combine for just 11 total Quad 1 wins. With a win on Monday night, South Carolina then would be just one victory off of that number.
You can see the entire AP top 25 below (first-place votes in parentheses):
- UCLA Bruins (31)
- South Carolina Gamecocks (1)
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Southern Cal Trojans
- Texas Longhorns
- UConn Huskies
- LSU Tigers
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- TCU Horned Frogs
- Duke Blue Devils
- Kansas State Wildcats
- Kentucky Wildcats
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Maryland Terrapins
- North Carolina Tar Heels
- Michigan State Spartans
- NC State Wolfpack
- Tennessee Lady Volunteers
- California Golden Bears
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
- West Virginia Mountaineers
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Vanderbilt Commodores
- Oklahoma State Cowboys
- Florida State Seminoles
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This week, South Carolina will play two more conference opponents.
First, on Monday night, the Gamecocks will play a road contest against the Tennessee Lady Volunteers. ESPN2 will broadcast the 7:00 p.m. contest, while the ESPN app will make it available for streaming.
Then, on Sunday, Carolina will return home to play the Auburn Tigers. A Noon tip-off, the Gamecocks and Tigers will play on SEC Network and the ESPN app.
