STI/Hoopfeed Poll: South Carolina holds steady at No. 1; Northwestern enters at No. 21
Northwestern enters the poll at No. 21
South Carolina holds steady at No. 1 for the second week in a row in the current Sport Tours International/Hoopfeed Top 25 Poll. The Gamecocks cruised by Missouri Thursday night and survived a tough top-ten contest that went down to the wire against Mississippi State this past Monday night, 81-79. With such a close contest against the top team in the country, the Bulldogs stayed at No. 10.
Baylor remained in the No. 2 spot with the program hitting a milestone in conference play. With a win over West Virginia, the Lady Bears earned their 45th consecutive regular-season conference game, a Big 12 record.
West Virginia had a tough week losing to unranked Oklahoma last Wednesday and finishing the week with the loss to Baylor. As a result, the Mountaineers fell seven places to land at No. 24.
Oregon and UConn are in a tie this week at No. 3. Out West, the Ducks swept the Bay Area’s Pac-12 schools, first taking down Stanford on Thursday and following up with a rout of California. In the Stanford win, Oregon senior guard Sabrina Ionescu broke the program record for the career-points.
Louisville rounds out the top five. The Cardinals are on a 10-game winning streak and took down ACC foes Boston College and North Carolina in the past week.
Stanford recovered from the loss to the Ducks by beating No. 8 Oregon State on the road Sunday. The Cardinal landed at No. 6 in the poll, a drop of three places.
Previously undefeated UCLA experienced the most stunning defeat of the week, falling to unranked cross-town rival South California in a double-overtime thriller Friday night. The Bruins fell three spots to No. 9.
Indiana also saw a steep drop in the rankings, four places to No. 20. The Hoosiers are on a three-game losing streak that began Jan. 12 when they fell to Iowa. Over the past week, Indiana lost at home to Northwestern in an overtime contest followed by a defeat on the road to this week’s No. 18 Maryland.
Northwestern entered the poll at No. 21. The Wildcats are on a four-game win streak with a 6-1 record in Big Ten play putting them in a tie with Iowa for No. 1 in the conference.
Missouri State fell out of the poll after rising as high as No. 19. The Lady Bears dropped a game to unranked Southern Illinois in a 70-68 stunner Friday night. The last time SIU beat a ranked team was 1991 and with the victory, the Salukis ended Missouri State’s 13-game conference winning streak.
- Other teams that received votes: Missouri State, LSU, Princeton, Rutgers, FGCU, Stony Brook.
- Dropped out: Missouri State
| Rank | School | Record | Last | Change |
| 1 | South Carolina | 17-1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Baylor | 15-1 | 2 | 0 |
| 3 – tie | Oregon | 15-2 | 7 | 4 |
| 3 | UConn | 16-1 | 4 | 1 |
| 5 | Louisville | 18-1 | 5 | 0 |
| 6 | Stanford | 16-2 | 3 | -3 |
| 7 | NC State | 17-1 | 9 | 2 |
| 8 | Oregon State | 16-2 | 8 | 0 |
| 9 | UCLA | 16-1 | 6 | -3 |
| 10 | Mississippi State | 16-2 | 10 | 0 |
| 11 | DePaul | 17-2 | 14 | 3 |
| 12 | Gonzaga | 18-1 | 15 | 3 |
| 13 | Florida State | 15-3 | 13 | 0 |
| 14 | Kentucky | 15-3 | 11 | -3 |
| 15 | Texas A&M | 15-3 | 12 | -3 |
| 16 | Arizona State | 15-4 | 18 | 2 |
| 17 | Arizona | 15-3 | 20 | 3 |
| 18 | Maryland | 13-4 | 21 | 3 |
| 19 | Iowa | 15-3 | 22 | 3 |
| 20 | Indiana | 14-4 | 16 | -4 |
| 21 | Northwestern | 16-2 | NR | N/A |
| 22 | Arkansas | 15-3 | 24 | 2 |
| 23 | Tennessee | 14-3 | 23 | 0 |
| 24 | West Virginia | 13-3 | 17 | -7 |
| 25 | South Dakota | 17-2 | 25 | 0 |
The STI/Hoopfeed Poll is conducted weekly throughout the regular season using a panel of media members and other women’s basketball professionals.
This week’s AP Poll || USA Today Coaches Poll
Voting Panel
- Mel Greenberg
- Joan Bonvicini
- Prentice Beverly
- Brenda VanLengen
- Charles Hallman
- Rhiannon Potkey
- Kristopher Gardner
- Jacob Mox (for Her Hoop Stats)
- Cindy Brunson
- Kevin Danna
- Ben Parker
- Viet Nguyen
- Michael Roberson
- Lisa Bodine
- LaChina Robinson
- Cheryl Coward
