Iowa drops slightly in rankings after loss to UCLA: college basketball
The top four teams in NCAA Division I women’s college basketball are holding steady as lower-ranked teams begin to make their name known.
Iowa dropped the ball in a matchup against their biggest competitor this season, UCLA.
The Hawkeyes lost by over 25 points, and the loss of their starting guard Taylor McCabe has revealed a major weak spot. This led to a two ranking drop which, though small, could have a huge effect as rankings begin to tighten up going into Selection Sunday.
Women’s Selection Sunday is March 15 at 8 p.m. on ESPN.
The LSU Tigers have made an impressive season out of what started as a shocking losing streak. Head Coach Kim Mulkey and the Tigers are handedly winning against their opponents, including a 44 point win over recently ranked Texas A&M.
But, the Tigers are coming up on a huge matchup against Texas on Thursday, one that is undoubtedly going to shake up the top five rankings going into next week.
Minnesota has also consistently moved their way up the rankings throughout recent weeks, finally reaching the top 10 this week.
They are currently 16-6 on the season, and simply based on record, are sixth in the BIG10.
Though that conference ranking doesn’t represent the Gophers outranking three of their BIG10 competitors in NCAA Net Rankings.
The Golden Gophers are led by senior Amaya Battle, who is averaging almost 10 points and four assists per game. Battle is Minnesota’s starting guard, and in combination with head coach Dawn Plitzuweit, they are hoping to make a run in the tournament this year.
Here is the current ranking, according to NCAA.com.
25. Oklahoma St., (17-5)
24. Nebraska, (16-6)
23. West Virginia, (18-5)
22. Oregon, (17-7)
21. North Carolina, (18-5)
20. Southern California, (13-9)
19. Tennessee, (14-5)
18. Ohio St., (20-3)
17. Maryland, (17-6)
16. Kentucky, (18-5)
15. Ole Miss, (19-4)
14. Duke, (16-6)
13. TCU, (20-3)
12. Iowa, (18-4)
11. Oklahoma, (17-5)
10. Minnesota, (16-6)
9. Vanderbilt, (21-2)
8. Louisville, (21-3)
7. Michigan St., (19-3)
6. Michigan, (19-3)
5. LSU, (21-2)
4. South Carolina, (22-2)
3. Texas, (21-2)
2. UCLA, (21-1)
1. UConn, (23-0)
Thank you for reading Female Athlete News. Clara Romae Slowinski is a student-intern at Penn State.