Poised No. 2 South Carolina doesn’t concede Injuried​ They earned their first NCAA Basketball Top 5 win of the season with a dominant 67-50 victory over No. 5 Texas on Sunday.
The Gamecocks’ signature lock-down defense was in full effect, holding the Longhorns to 27.8 percent shooting despite Texas forcing 22 turnovers.
“I would say, our team, they seem to be really focused on practicing a little better when our opponent has a lot of guys next to them,” South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley of her team’s tough ranked schedule. “They’re more focused and talk less. They know the intangibles of this game are going to play a huge role in whether we win or lose.”
About to get off undefeated Championship season, South Carolina weathered the blows while proving they were capable of winning again.
Gamecocks’ 43-game winning streak snapped 1st place at UCLA In November, key contributor Ashlyn Watkins passed away from a torn ACL earlier in the month.
South Carolina, meanwhile, has five ranked wins this season, including four against top-10 teams. The Gamecocks look comfortable heading into a particularly tough conference matchup with No. 19 Alabama and No. 13 Oklahoma looking to dethrone the current champions later this week.
Ranking losses fuel AP basketball poll campaign
Today’s AP poll Update brings big changes to top 25 elite teams across Division I Basketball cool down As the NCAA season heats up.
While No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 South Carolina, No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 4 USC held steady, the Longhorns’ loss to the Gamecocks bumped their rankings It dropped two places to seventh place.
Elsewhere in the top 10, LSU’s still-undefeated record moves the Tigers up one spot to fifth, while UConn also capitalizes on Texas’ misfortune, finishing above Zhou moved up one spot to sixth place.
Georgia Tech and Iowa State, both ranked in the top 25, suffered the biggest drops of the week. The once-undefeated Yellow Jackets dropped four spots to No. 17 after Thursday’s loss coupled with Sunday’s loss, while Iowa State was eliminated entirely from Monday’s game along with Big Ten member Michigan State. removed from the ranking.
The biggest jumps in Monday’s poll were No. 14 North Carolina and No. 18 California, whose upset wins improved their rankings by five and six spots, respectively.
Two teams were also joined by the Associated Press, with Oklahoma State, with two losses, and Minnesota, with one loss, tied for No. 24. Both teams are making their first appearance in years: the Cowgirls were last ranked in 2018 and the Golden Gophers were last in the top 25 in 2019.
Week 11 AP College Basketball Poll
1. UCLA (16-0, Big Ten)
2. South Carolina (16-1, SEC)
3. Notre Dame (14-2, ACC)
4. USC (16-1, Big Ten)
5. Louisiana State University (19-0, SEC)
6. UConn (15-2, Big East)
7. Texas (16-2, SEC)
8. Maryland (15-1, Big Ten)
9. Ohio State (16-0, Big Ten)
10. TCU (17-1, Big 12)
11. Kansas State (17-1, Big 12)
12. Kentucky (15-1, SEC)
13. Oklahoma State (14-3, SEC)
14. North Carolina (15-3, ACC)
15. Tennessee (14-2, SEC)
16. Duke (13-4, ACC)
17. Georgia Tech (15-2, ACC)
18. Cal (16-2, ACC)
19. Alabama (16-2, SEC)
20. West Virginia (13-3, Big 12)
21. North Carolina State (12-4, ACC)
22. Michigan State (13-3, Big Ten)
23. Utah State (13-3, Big 12)
T24. Minnesota (16-1, Big Ten)
T24. Oklahoma State (14-2, Big 12)
