There are six weeks remaining within the NCAA ladies’s basketball common season and whereas a number of groups are constructing a case for convention trophies, it’s nonetheless a toss-up throughout the facility conferences. In week 12, eight video games ended with both an unranked or decrease ranked staff defeating a better ranked opponent.
That’s prompted modifications throughout the weekly rankings, together with a three-loss week for the Maryland Terrapins and the Gamecocks making their case to regain the No. 1 general rating regardless of UCLA remaining undefeated.
Listed below are the rankings this week, adopted by the tales that formed it:
AP high 25 ladies’s faculty basketball rankings:
- UCLA
- South Carolina
- Notre Dame
- USC
- Texas
- UConn
- LSU
- Ohio State
- TCU
- Duke
- Kansas State
- Kentucky
- Oklahoma
- Maryland
- North Carolina
- Michigan State
- NC State
- Tennessee
- Cal
- Georgia Tech
- West Virginia
- Alabama
- Vanderbilt
- Oklahoma State
- Florida State
Others receiving votes: Michigan 30, Nebraska 26, Minnesota 25, Creighton 21, Baylor 12, Utah 11, Mississippi 8, Harvard 7, South Dakota St. 2.
Accidents Derail Maryland
The Maryland Terrapins entered a Jan. 8 battle with the No. 4 USC Trojans on a roll, profitable their first 14 video games of the season. Whereas Maryland fell to protect JuJu Watkins and the Trojans, the slender 79-74 defeat confirmed that the then No. 8 Terrapins are a staff that may compete with the highest applications within the nation.
Final week, a treacherous stretch that includes six video games towards seven ranked opponents continued, but it surely didn’t embrace guard Bri McDaniel. The junior guard who averaged 10.6 factors per sport tore her ACL, this system introduced on Monday. That requires McDaniel to overlook the remainder of this season and certain a piece of subsequent season.
McDaniel predominantly got here off the bench this season with the addition of junior guard Kaylene Smikle from the switch portal, however McDaniel was the center of the Terrapins. When on the ground, averaging 21.6 minutes per sport, McDaniel by no means gave up on performs and introduced Maryland’s depth to a different degree.
That meant Maryland was with out her companies towards No. 7 Texas, No. 12 Ohio State and No. 1 UCLA, in probably the most troublesome week for any staff within the nation thus far this season. Issues acquired worse on Monday, towards the Longhorns on the Coretta Scott King Traditional when guard and senior chief Shyanne Sellers, who averages 14.2 factors, 4.7 help and 4.2 rebounds per sport, suffered a contact harm on her proper knee.
Photograph by Emmanuel Durojaiye/Emmanuel Durojaiye
The harm took Sellers out for the 89-51 loss to Texas and video games towards Ohio State on Thursday and Sunday’s sport towards UCLA. Each resulted in losses for the Terps, with the Buckeyes getting back from 15 factors all the way down to win and a profession excessive 33 factors for UCLA heart Lauren Betts in UCLA’s 82-67 win.
“They’ve all been by adversity of their careers and so they know find out how to experience the ups and downs of a protracted season,” stated Maryland head coach Brenda Frese. “So I do know they’ll keep targeted and proceed to manage what they’ll management.”
Maryland will get a little bit little bit of a break now, enjoying two ranked groups of their final 9 video games of the common season. Nevertheless, it’s unclear when that may embrace Sellers, the All-Huge Ten choice who’s listed as day-to-day with a knee sprain. Regardless, Maryland is probably going a event staff and if Sellers will get wholesome for the postseason, the Terrapins confirmed the nation they’re a staff to be reckoned with, when wholesome.
Gamecocks and Tigers’ Delayed Conflict
The No. 2 South Carolina Gamecocks and No. 5 LSU Tigers all the time play entertaining matchups, however this season’s version was delayed a day due to Winter Storm Enzo. So, on Friday afternoon, the Gamecocks and Tigers performed the lone ranked sport of the day, and it lived as much as the expectations.
Coming into Friday, head coach Kim Mulkey’s LSU facet was one among two undefeated groups within the nation, pulling off late wins towards Stanford and a ranked Tennessee facet over the earlier weeks of the season. Nevertheless, South Carolina is one other problem utterly.
LSU began off the aggressors, enjoying robust on the offensive glass within the first quarter, grabbing seven offensive boards and scoring eight second likelihood factors off the extra possessions. Ahead Aneesah Morrow and guard Flau’Jae Johnson every scored six factors to begin the sport and the Tigers led 22-21 getting into the second quarter.
That’s when South Carolina clamped down on protection and pulled away. The Gamecocks held LSU to eight factors within the second quarter on 3-of-20 taking pictures. Whereas South Carolina’s scoring wasn’t a lot better, including 12 factors within the interval behind six factors from MiLaysia Fulwiley, it was sufficient to construct up a lead that the Gamecocks wouldn’t relinquish.
Regardless of 15 factors and 16 rebounds from Morrow and 13 for Johnson, the Gamecocks outlasted the Tigers for his or her seventeenth consecutive win within the rivalry, defeating LSU 66-56. It’s the fifth loss to the Gamecocks within the Mulkey period, solely the second time South Carolina beat LSU up to now 4 seasons by a margin of a minimum of 10 factors.
What impressed probably the most about South Carolina’s win was what the staff did off the ball. Defensively, the Gamecocks had 13 steals and 11 blocks, turning protection into offense with 22 factors off turnovers.
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Photograph by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Photos
“I believe we’re fairly locked in. I believe they are surely related. They perceive that we’re fairly good. They do. They perceive that, and so they perceive why we’re good. And that’s our hole protection is fairly good, our scramble out when groups get forward of the possession, after which we simply acquired to battle to simply go get the basketball,” stated head coach Daybreak Staley. “Tonight, the blocked photographs have been spectacular. Simply our grit, was nice. That you must have all these issues to be the staff like LSU.”
If the mantra of “protection wins championships” is certainly true, South Carolina is setting themselves up for probably a back-to-back title run.
Nation’s Prime Scorer Upsets UNC
Sunday in Chapel Hill, the unranked Florida State Seminoles confronted the No. 13 North Carolina Tar Heels within the sport of the day. It didn’t have the honour due to rankings or star energy — it earned the title.
In a sport that did characteristic its personal stars, the true motive this sport couldn’t be turned off is due to how a lot every staff put into the battle. This North Carolina-Florida State sport featured 20 lead modifications.
The Seminoles had their method within the first quarter, constructing an eight-point lead that the Tar Heels erased within the second quarter behind a seven-point run. Absent from a few of the quarter was Florida State’s Taniya Latson, the nation’s high scorer who went to the bench with foul hassle.
Latson scored two factors within the second quarter as UNC walked into the locker room up one level on the break. At halftime, Latson had eight factors in quarter-hour and made up for her lack of offensive presence within the second half.
That’s when Latson went off, scoring a team-high 17 factors within the second half in 18 minutes, however no two factors have been as necessary because the final two of the sport. With 4 seconds remaining, North Carolina guard Reniya Kelly tied the sport at 84-84, which gave the Seminoles 3.5 seconds on the clock to attempt to discover a game-winning shot.
Florida State inbounded the ball to Latson and the guard acquired by a double-team, round one other defender and than altered her shot midair towards a fourth Tar Heel to hit arguably the most effective shot of the NCAA season to this point.
Regardless of having 5 gamers in double-figures, UNC fell 86-84 for his or her third straight defeat to the Seminoles, this time an particularly troublesome upset to tackle their house courtroom.
For the Seminoles, who now sit at 6-2 in ACC play, it places them within the dialog close to the highest of the convention and helps construct their resume for March Insanity. The Seminoles nonetheless play 4 of the highest 5 groups within the convention, together with the Notre Dame Combating Irish, who at present occupy the highest spot within the energy convention.
Different Tales of the Week
- Freshman guard Dani Carnegie returned from a hamstring harm to attain 29 factors for No. 18 Georgia Tech in a 75-62 win over Virginia. Nevertheless, the Yellow Jackets fell to the No. 14 Duke Blue Devils on Sunday 55-50, behind a robust defensive efficiency by head coach Kara Lawson’s Duke program.
- No. 9 TCU and No. 11 Kentucky every misplaced to unranked groups this week however bounced again on Sunday. The Horned Frogs defeated No. 25 Baylor and the Wildcats defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks.
- In Ann Arbor, the No. 24 Michigan Wolverines and No. 21 Michigan State Spartans performed their first of two in-state rivalry matchups this season. The Spartans took the primary matchup in a powerful 88-58 win the place Michigan State beat the Wolverines within the paint 44-24.