Kentucky women’s basketball earned the No. 14 slot in the Week 4 AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll on Monday after a double-digit win against Purdue Fort Wayne.
The Wildcats, who defeated the No. 18 Louisville Cardinals in the Battle of the Bluegrass, entered the top 15 before their matchup with the Mastodons where they won 79-67 on their home court.
Their first road trip lies ahead, where Kentucky will face its first true back-to-back, playing on Nov. 26 and Nov. 27.
Although they had a day break, the Wildcats played an underwhelming first half of basketball against Purdue Fort Wayne on Nov. 18, following their first ranked win of the season on Nov. 16.
The Mastodons dominated the Wildcats inside of the paint, leading by five points at the half. Georgia Amoore and Clara Strack, Kentucky’s leading scorers this season, had only made two combined field goals.
Amoore exploded onto the scene in the second half, scoring 20 points and bringing energy to the fans inside of Historic Memorial Coliseum.
After the game, and what happened around the nation this past week, it’s been proven that any team can beat anyone on any given night.
The No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks traveled to Los Angeles, California, to take on the No. 5 UCLA Bruins and ultimately lost by 15 points, marking their first regular season loss since Dec. 30, 2021.
The Bruins, now the No. 1 team, knocked the Gamecocks down three spots, though they still remained the highest ranked SEC team.
The SEC featured five teams in the top 15 including No. 4 South Carolina, No. 5 Texas, No. 7 LSU, No. 8 Oklahoma and No. 14 Kentucky. No.18 Ole Miss and No. 23 Alabama rounded off the ranked SEC teams, trailing only the Big 10 with the most ranked teams by conference.
Michigan received 51 votes to be ranked this week, likely due to its first game of the season where it only lost by six points to the Gamecocks. Now 5-1 on the season, it’s clear that Michigan will add to the list of ranked Big 10 schools soon, having an opportunity to knock off No. 8 Oklahoma at the Jumpman Invitational on Dec. 17.
Michigan State, Vanderbilt, Indiana and Tennessee all received votes as well, truly marking that the SEC and the Big 10 will be battling all season for the title of the best conference in women’s basketball.
After their matchup with the Arizona State Sun Devils on Tuesday, Nov. 26, the Wildcats will get a chance to knock off a Big 10 school, playing No. 19 Illinois the following day on Wednesday, Nov. 27.
Tipoff against Arizona State is set for 4:30 p.m. and the Illinois game is scheduled to tipoff at 8 p.m. Both games will be streamed on BallerTV.
A full list of the rankings can be found below:
- UCLA Bruins (5-0)
- UConn Huskies (4-0)
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-0)
- South Carolina Gamecocks (5-1)
- Texas Longhorns (4-0)
- USC Trojans (4-1)
- LSU Tigers (6-0)
- Oklahoma Sooners (5-0)
- Kansas State Wildcats (5-0)
- Maryland Terrapins (6-0)
- Ohio State Buckeyes (5-0)
- West Virginia Mountaineers (6-0)
- Duke Blue Devils (5-1)
- Kentucky Wildcats (5-0)
- Iowa State Cyclones (5-1)
- North Carolina Tar Heels (5-1)
- TCU Horned Frogs (6-0)
- Ole Miss Rebels (3-1)
- Illinois Fighting Illini (5-0)
- NC State Wolfpack (3-2)
- Oregon Ducks (6-0)
- Iowa Hawkeyes (6-0)
- Alabama Crimson Tide (6-0)
- Louisville Cardinals (4-2)
- Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-1)
Receiving votes: Michigan (51), Michigan State (25), Baylor (23), Vanderbilt (21), Stanford (17), Indiana (9), Tennessee (9), Florida State (6), Miami (FL) (4), Richmond (4), Creighton (2), Harvard (1), Minnesota (1).
