Women’s basketball rankings: South Carolina and UConn fall, shaking up top five of AP rankings

The Texas Longhorns and Tennessee Volunteers got a bit of revenge against two top programs in the country.

They say revenge is a dish best served cold, and no this isn’t about Kendrick Lamar’s memorable Super Bowl halftime show performance. Week 14 of NCAA women’s basketball featured teams overcoming previous defeats — some from earlier this season and another from 18 years ago.

These two games and others created shifts in the Associated Press top 25 poll, including two top-five teams falling, a ranked Big 12 rout in Norman and a no good, very bad, week for a Big Ten team out west.

Here are how the rankings were impacted, plus more about the top stories of the week.

AP top 25 women’s college basketball rankings:

1. UCLA
2. Notre Dame
3. Texas
4. South Carolina
5. LSU
6. USC
7. UConn
8. Kentucky
9. Ohio State
10. NC State
11. TCU
12. North Carolina
13. Duke
14. Kansas State
15. Tennessee
16. Oklahoma
17. Maryland
18. West Virginia
19. Georgia Tech
20. Oklahoma State
21. Alabama
22. Michigan State
23. Florida State
24. Creighton
25. Baylor

Others receiving votes: California 38, Illinois 22, Vanderbilt 20, Utah 14, South Dakota St. 7, Michigan 6, Richmond 5, Mississippi 4, Columbia 3, Harvard 2, Louisville 1, Grand Canyon 1.

UConn-Tennesse Rivalry Renewed

In 2007, legendary head coach Pat Summitt led the Tennessee Volunteers to the program’s seventh national title. Along the way, the Vols defeated head coach Geno Auriemma and the UConn Huskies in the continuation of a rivalry of the two top programs in women’s college basketball.

That was the last time Tennessee beat the Huskies, and the two sides wouldn't play again for 13 years. In that time, Summitt retired, and passed away four years later. With her death, the Vols still competed near the top of the SEC, but other programs took the mantle at the top of the nation.

UConn carried the next four games of the rivalry, until Thursday in Knoxville when first year Vols head coach Kim Caldwell’s team finally got back on the winning side of the rivalry.

The Huskies and Vols took turns taking the lead, but a 13-point run in the third quarter put Tennessee into a lead they wouldn't relinquish. While UConn applied pressure late, tying the game twice in the final 3:16, the Vols held the No. 4 Huskies off in an 80-76 victory, marking Tennessee’s first ranked win after losing four consecutive games against top-10 opponents.

After the game, Auriemma wasn’t happy and used it as an opportunity to comment on UConn star Paige Bueckers.

Photo by Johnnie Izquierdo/Getty Images

“Paige wants the ball in her hands all the time, then when they trap her, she don’t want the ball in her hands,” said Auriemma. “So now we try to get her moving from, you know, one thing to another, moving without the ball. So we’ve got to come to some sort of definitive thing here, how we’re going to handle it.”

An odd response, especially considering Bueckers had a chance late in the fourth to put the Huskies ahead on a break, but Auriemma called a timeout to stop the play in its tracks.

Texas Hands South Carolina Rare SEC Defeat

On Sunday in Austin, Texas, the No. 2 South Carolina Gamecocks and No. 5 Texas Longhorns played their second regular season game against each other.

In the first game, South Carolina was relentless, making plays difficult and keeping Texas’ top playmakers from being productive. The Gamecocks held the Longhorns to 50 points in a 17-point victory, but Sunday was a different story.

South Carolina never led against the Longhorns Sunday afternoon and sophomore forward Madison Booker wouldn’t be denied twice, scoring 20 points with 11 rebounds. A far cry from the seven points in 34 minutes against South Carolina back on Jan. 12.

The 66-62 win is the fourth win against top-10 opponents for Texas this season, and only the second loss for the Gamecocks this season. For South Carolina, it’s the first time the program lost two regular season games in a season since the 20-21 season and stops a 57-game SEC regular season winning streak for head coach Dawn Staley’s side.

“They disrupted us,” said Staley. “We worked on some things that we could do to relieve the pressure, but it didn’t work. It’s a lot easier when you’re practicing and you’re not in this environment.”

Now, in a touch of coincidence, UConn and South Carolina play each other Sunday, setting up a matchup of two national championship programs in a game that will show how prepared each side is heading into the postseason.

LA Too Much for Buckeyes

In the Big Ten, No. 8 Ohio State headed west for the toughest road trip in college basketball, traveling thousands of miles to face the No. 1 and No. 7 teams in the nation.

It began Wednesday, when the Buckeyes faced the No. 1 UCLA Bruins. For three quarters, Ohio State stayed in the game, tying it at 44-44 early in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for the Scarlet and Gray, basketball games are four quarters and the Bruins surged ahead late.

Despite holding national player of the year candidate Lauren Betts to 9 points in three quarters, without double and triple teaming the 6-foot-7 center, the second quarter found Ohio State’s defense lapse and Betts scored 10 of her 19 points.

Ohio State also forced 23 turnovers, but it didn’t turn into easy offense and the Buckeyes shot 29.4 percent from the field, missing many open looks in the 65-52 defeat.

The defensive positives from the loss to the Bruins did give the Buckeyes some momentum heading south to play guard JuJu Watkins and the Trojans Saturday night, and through three quarters Watkins didn’t really hurt the Buckeyes.

Defensive player of the year candidate Taylor Thierry shadowed Watkins and held the sophomore to 2-of-13 shooting in three quarters with 10 points, with six coming from the free throw line. When Thierry fouled out in the fourth quarter, Watkins added seven more points but by that point the game was already over for the visitors from Ohio.

Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

For the second game in a row, the Buckeyes forced 23 turnovers and shot a season low 29.4 percent. USC also used their size to their advantage and out rebounded OSU 62-30, with three starters hitting a double-double, and the other two sitting only two rebounds away from a double-double.

Forward Kiki Iriafen did the most damage for the home side, scoring 24 points with 13 rebounds, both team highs, in the 84-63 USC victory.

Now, the Buckeyes play all of their remaining regular season and Big Ten Tournament games in Eastern Standard Time, including four of six games at home. Should Ohio State win out, it will guarantee the side a top four spot in the conference tournament, earning them a bye into the quarterfinals.

Other Stories This Week

• After No. 12 Kansas State upset the No. 9 TCU Horned Frogs Wednesday night 59-50, the Wildcats were atop the Big 12 standings, but it didn’t last long. Kansas State traveled to Norman, Oklahoma and fell big, losing 85-55 to the No. 25 Oklahoma State Cowgirls.
• No. 3 Notre Dame had their way with the new ACC programs from California, defeating the Stanford Cardinal 96-47 on Thursday, followed up with a 91-52 win over the No. 21 ranked Cal Golden Bears.
• No. 14 NC State won a second straight ranked matchup, defeating the Florida State Seminoles 97-74. It also extends the Wolfpack’s winning streak to eight games.