Kentucky women’s basketball dropped to the No. 16 slot in the Week 6 AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll on Monday after a double-digit loss to the No. 16 North Carolina Tar Heels.
The Wildcats entered the ACC/SEC challenge against North Carolina with a 7-0 record, looking to get their third ranked win of the season and defeat Teonni Key’s former team.
Unfortunately, the former Tar Heel and the Wildcats couldn’t seem to figure it out inside Carmichael Arena, getting into early foul trouble and not winning 50-50 plays despite a big run before halftime. North Carolina held a lead over the Wildcats the entire 40 minutes.
With the result, Head Coach Kenny Brooks suffered his first loss of the season and the Wildcats were forced to travel back home to Lexington looking to back back in their next matchup.
With conference play quickly approaching, the Wildcats will likely remain stagnant in the AP rankings given they don’t suffer a major upset to a lesser opponent.
Alongside the Wildcats, multiple SEC teams moved down in the AP rankings, most notably the now unranked Alabama Crimson Tide, which suffered a 69-65 loss to the California Golden Bears, spoiling its undefeated record and top 20 ranking.
Ole Miss also moved down four slots to No. 22 after a 68-61 loss against the NC State Wolfpack as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge. The Rebels are now 6-3 on the season.
The No. 6 Texas Longhorns also dropped down two slots after their 80-70 overtime loss against then No. 10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Hannah Hidalgo’s 30-point performance marked the most points the Longhorns have allowed by a single player this season.
Brooks and the Wildcats acknowledge their place in the rankings and are adamant to learn and keep the “Blue Blood” engine running.
“It’s like boom and doom, we had to remind ourselves we were 7-1, 8-1,” Brooks said. “Polls came out today (Monday) and we’re 16, you know, so we’re still in a good position and we’re still working through it.”
The Wildcats will next take the court against the Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday, Dec. 14, inside of Mackey Arena, looking to get their first true road win of the season. The game is set to tip off at 5 p.m. and will air live on the Big Ten Network (BTN).
A full list of the rankings can be found below:
- UCLA Bruins (9-0)
- UConn Huskies (8-0)
- South Carolina Gamecocks (9-1)
- LSU Tigers (11-0)
- USC Trojans (8-1)
- Texas Longhorns (8-1)
- Maryland Terrapins (10-0)
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-2)
- Duke Blue Devils (9-2)
- Oklahoma Sooners (8-1)
- Ohio State Buckeyes (8-0)
- TCU Horned Frogs (9-1)
- Kansas State Wildcats (10-1)
- North Carolina Tar Heels (9-1)
- West Virgina Mountaineers (9-1)
- Kentucky Wildcats (7-1)
- Michigan State Spartans (9-0)
- Iowa State Cyclones (8-2)
- Tennesee Volunteers (7-0)
- Michigan Wolverines (8-1)
- Iowa Hawkeyes (8-1)
- Ole Miss Rebels (6-3)
- NC State Wolfpack (6-3)
- Nebraska Cornhuskers (8-1)
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (9-0)
Receiving votes: Alabama (73), Illinois (69), California (23), Stanford (18), Vanderbilt (15), Utah (14), Louisville (9), Richmond (8), South Dakota State (8), Creighton (5), Oklahoma State (4), Harvard (3), Florida State (3), Texas Tech (3), Baylor (1).
