AP women’s poll reaction: What’s next for Top 25 teams
Credit to Author: ESPN| Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2025 18:56:18 EST
Madison Booker sinks a go-ahead jumper with under 30 seconds to play and then seals the win with a steal on the final play. (0:42)
And then there was one.
UCLA is the lone unbeaten team in women’s college basketball after South Carolina knocked off LSU 66-56 on Friday.
It was the 69th straight home win for the Gamecocks, matching the SEC record set by Tennessee from 1991 to 1996, while LSU still hasn’t beaten South Carolina under coach Kim Mulkey (0-5).
Meanwhile, UCLA made a statement with an 82-67 win at Maryland in a top-10 matchup Sunday.
What does it all mean for the AP Top 25? Let’s break down the new rankings.
New this week: Vanderbilt, Oklahoma State, Florida State
Out: Minnesota, Michigan, Baylor
Stats courtesy of ESPN Research and The Associated Press.
All times Eastern
Previous ranking: 1
2024-25 record: 20-0
Stat to know: In Sunday’s win over Maryland, Lauren Betts scored 33 points on 14-of-15 shooting, becoming the first UCLA player with at least 30 points and a 90% field goal percentage in the past 25 years and the first player at any school to do that against an AP top-10 opponent in the past 25 years.
What’s next: Sunday vs. Minnesota, 3 p.m., BTN
Previous ranking: 2
2024-25 record: 19-1
Stat to know: South Carolina’s win over previously unbeaten LSU on Friday was its 14th in a row, all by double digits, the longest such streak in program history.
What’s next: Monday at No. 18 Tennessee, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Previous ranking: 3
2024-25 record: 17-2
Stat to know: In Thursday’s win over Boston College, Hannah Hidalgo had her eighth game this season with 20 points and five steals, three more than any other player in Division I. Since her career began last season, Hidalgo has 22 such games; no other Division I player has more than 10.
What’s next: Thursday at Virginia Tech, 6 p.m., ACCNX
Previous ranking: 4
2024-25 record: 18-1
Stat to know: USC had a 31-0 run during Wednesday’s win over Purdue, its second run of 30 or more points this season. There have been only three other such runs in Division I this season.
What’s next: Thursday vs. Minnesota, 10 p.m., Peacock
Previous ranking: 7
2024-25 record: 20-2
Stat to know: With Sunday’s 61-58 win over Ole Miss, Texas improved to 4-0 in games decided by single digits this season. The Longhorns were 3-4 in such games last season.
What’s next: Thursday vs. Missouri, 9 p.m., SECN
Previous ranking: 6
2024-25 record: 19-2
Stat to know: In Saturday’s win over Creighton, Sarah Strong became the first UConn player with at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and 5 steals in a game since Gabby Williams on March 18, 2017.
What’s next: Wednesday at DePaul, 7 p.m.
Previous ranking: 5
2024-25 record: 21-1
Stat to know: LSU was just 23-of-77 from the field (29.9%) against South Carolina, the first time the Tigers have been held under 30% in 126 games with Kim Mulkey as coach.
What’s next: Thursday vs. No. 13 Oklahoma, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Previous ranking: 12
2024-25 record: 19-1
Stat to know: This is the second time in the past three seasons that Ohio State has had 19 wins in its first 20 games; prior to this span, it hadn’t started 19-1 since 2011-12.
What’s next: Sunday vs. Washington, 5 p.m., BTN
Previous ranking: 9
2024-25 record: 20-2
Stat to know: On Sunday, TCU beat Baylor for the first time since Feb. 28, 1990, snapping a streak of 37 straight losses.
What’s next: Sunday at Iowa State, 4 p.m., FS1
Previous ranking: 14
2024-25 record: 17-4
Stat to know: Duke held Georgia Tech to five points (2-of-19 shooting) in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 55-50 win.
What’s next: Feb. 3 at No. 17 NC State, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Previous ranking: 10
2024-25 record: 19-2
Stat to know: Kansas State was held to a season-low 53 points in Saturday’s loss at Colorado, the Wildcats’ first game since losing leading scorer Ayoka Lee to a fracture in her foot. The team is hopeful Lee will be able to return this season.
What’s next: Thursday vs. Iowa State, 8:30 p.m., ESPN
Previous ranking: 11
2024-25 record: 17-2
Stat to know: Kentucky outscored Arkansas 29-10 in the first quarter of Sunday’s win and has a plus-79 scoring margin in the first quarter in SEC play, the best in the conference.
What’s next: Thursday vs. No. 22 Alabama, 7 p.m., SECN
Previous ranking: 15
2024-25 record: 16-4
Stat to know: In Sunday’s rout of Georgia, Oklahoma scored at least 25 first-quarter points for the 10th time this season, the most of any team in Division I.
What’s next: Thursday at No. 7 LSU, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Previous ranking: 8
2024-25 record: 16-4
Stat to know: It wasn’t a good week for the Terps, who suffered three straight losses, albeit all to ranked teams (UCLA, Ohio State, Texas). Playing without second-leading scorer Shyanne Sellers the past two games because of a knee injury, Maryland has averaged 20.7 turnovers per game during the slide.
What’s next: Wednesday at Penn State, 6 p.m., B1G+
Previous ranking: 13
2024-25 record: 18-4
Stat to know: North Carolina lost to Florida State on Sunday on a buzzer-beater by Ta’niya Latson, the Heels’ fifth straight home loss to the Seminoles and ninth in their past 10 meetings.
What’s next: Thursday at No. 19 California, 10 p.m., ACCNX
Previous ranking: 21
2024-25 record: 17-3
Stat to know: The Spartans’ 88-58 romp at Michigan on Saturday, the first meeting when both teams were ranked, was Michigan State’s largest margin of victory ever in the series.
What’s next: Thursday vs. Oregon, 6 p.m., BTN
Previous ranking: 20
2024-25 record: 16-4
Stat to know: NC State is 12-1 since the start of December after starting the season 4-3, with all three losses coming to teams currently in the AP top 10 (South Carolina, TCU, LSU).
What’s next: Thursday at Wake Forest, 6 p.m., ACCNX
Previous ranking: 17
2024-25 record: 15-4
Stat to know: Tennessee’s four losses, including Thursday’s to Texas, have come by a combined eight points, the smallest margin of defeat by an SEC team in its first four losses over the past 40 seasons.
What’s next: Monday vs. No. 2 South Carolina, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Previous ranking: 22
2024-25 record: 18-3
Stat to know: With Thursday’s 75-72 win, Cal completed its first season sweep of Stanford since 1985-86.
What’s next: Thursday vs. No. 15 North Carolina, 10 p.m., ACCNX
Previous ranking: 18
2024-25 record: 17-4
Stat to know: After a 15-0 start, Georgia Tech is 2-4 in its past six games. The Yellow Jackets went just 1-for-20 from 3-point range in Sunday’s loss to Duke.
What’s next: Sunday at Miami, 2 p.m., ACCN
Previous ranking: 16
2024-25 record: 16-4
Stat to know: West Virginia’s 15-point loss to unranked Arizona on Saturday was its largest margin of defeat this season.
What’s next: Saturday vs. Oklahoma State, noon, ESPNU
Previous ranking: 19
2024-25 record: 17-4
Stat to know: Alabama’s loss to Vanderbilt on Sunday snapped a 10-game winning streak against the Commodores, dating to Jan. 26, 2017.
What’s next: Thursday at No. 12 Kentucky, 7 p.m., SECN
Previous ranking: NR
2024-25 record: 17-4
Stat to know: Behind a 33-point effort by freshman Mikayla Blakes, Vandy posted its second win over a ranked team in eight days with a 66-64 victory over Alabama on Sunday and is in the Top 25 for the first time in 11 years.
What’s next: Thursday at Florida, 7 p.m., SECN+
Previous ranking: NR
2024-25 record: 17-3
Stat to know: Stailee Heard had a season-high 34 points in Saturday’s win over Texas Tech. Since the start of December, she has scored in double digits in 11 of 12 games, averaging 20.9 points in that span.
What’s next: Wednesday vs. Arizona State, 7:30 p.m., ESPN+
Previous ranking: NR
2024-25 record: 16-4
Stat to know: Ta’Niya Latson, who had the winning layup at the buzzer to beat North Carolina on Sunday, has at least 25 points in 12 games this season, the most in Division I.
What’s next: Thursday at Boston College, 6 p.m., ACCN