Texas A&M makes a big leap in my Power 10 rankings this week thanks to one of the strongest resumes and one of the best records in the country. Plus, two major upsets in the ACC and Pac-12 shake up the rest of the rankings.
Here are my Power 10 rankings for Week 14 of women's college basketball (last week's rankings in parentheses):
1. UConn (1) — The Huskies return as the No. 1 team. 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 eight-game winning streak, defeating Ole Miss on Sunday. Plus, Texas A&M is 8-0 this season against ranked teams. That's the best mark in the nation and a big reason why I moved them up three spots. The Aggies' (20-1) only loss was in overtime to LSU on Jan. 14. They redeemed themselves since then defeating the Tigers on Feb. 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 drop one spot after they suffered their first loss in the SEC. Tennessee won, 75-65, on Feb. 18 to snap South Carolina's 31-game SEC regular-season winning streak. The Gamecocks resumed conference play with a ranked win over No. 17 Kentucky, 76-55.
4. NC State (4) — After to falling to unranked North Carolina on Feb. 7, NC State bounced back and are currently on a three-game winning streak, which included revenge against the Tarheels, 82-63. Jakia Brown-Turner and Kayla Jones put up 45 points together. Elissa Cunane had a double-double performance with 17 points and 14 rebounds.
5. Louisville (3) — Florida State dealt Louisville its second upset of the season, 68-59, to wrap up Week 13. The Cardinals' scoring machine Dana Evans was held to only 13 points, the fewest she has scored this season.
WEEKEND RECAP: Florida State upsets No. 3 Louisville, Oregon State takes down No. 8 UCLA to wrap up Week 13 in women's college basketball
6. Baylor (6) — The Bears pulled away from a halftime tie to defeat Oklahoma, 77-66, on Sunday. The Big 12's No. 1 scoring defense held the Sooners to 28 percent shooting in the second half, while four Bears finished with double-digit figures. DiJonai Carrington led the way with 19 points.
7. Maryland (7) — The Terps blew past Big Ten opponents Illinois and Minnesota by more 30 plus points in each contest. Maryland is now 12-1 in the conference and leads the Big Ten standings.
8. Stanford (8) — The Cardinal are on a nine-game winning streak after handling then No. 13 Oregon by two points on Monday and Arizona State by double-digits on Friday. Kiana Williams led the Cardinal offense in both contests. The Cardinal will be tasked with limiting All-American guard Aari McDonald's offensive attack tonight in a Pac-12 showdown against Arizona.
Klutch @Kiana__W 🥶
— Stanford Women’s Basketball (@StanfordWBB) February 17, 2021
A big performance on a big stage ‼️#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/00TWecFldT
9. Arizona (10) — Since the Wildcats' 17-day pause due to COVID-19 protocols, they have extended their four-game winning streak against California on Friday. Tonight, Arizona faces Stanford's immense depth in hopes to even out the two-game series against the Cardinal.
10. UCLA (9) — The Bruins started Week 13 strong by defeating Oregon on Thursday, but couldn't get the job done against Oregon State on Sunday. Trailing only by six points with less than 3 minutes to go, Michaela Onyenwere scored back-to-back layups to cut the deficit to a two, but the Beavs pulled away with an 8-0 run in the final stretch.
