Aliyah Boston talked about keeping calm and reading the floor after she had her 63rd career double-double. I think it's 1:14. If the two teams meet again in the Final Four, they will look back at everything that happened. The Gamecocks walked away from their 76-71 overtime road victory with an increased belief in their bench (outscored the Cardinal 34-9), their star (Aliyah Boston had her struggles, yet still finished with a double-double and never got rattled), and their resilience. The Cardinal were in control of the game going into the fourth quarter, but they didn't score for the rest of the game. For the first three quarters, the Cardinal defense was really good. Things didn't stay the same. What happened in the fourth quarter that led to a scoring dry spell for the Cardinal? South Carolina's defense made things more difficult for Lepolo. To that end, coach Dawn Staley had a little more speed on the court for her team. About three minutes into the quarter, she called a timeout after seeing fatigue in her team. It was the blow that they needed to keep going. I thought we were clicking on all cylinders from a defensive standpoint and then from an offensive standpoint. Sometimes it works against you when you want to play so well. The game gave both teams a lot to think about. Tara VanDerveer thinks that her team isn't ready to be the top ranked team. South Carolina will not give it up if the Cardinal are not ready. The two remain at the top of the power rankings. The Texas Longhorns and Tennessee Lady Volunteers, both preseason top-five teams, fell out of this list after a combined five losses. The full highlights of the NC State-UConn game. The sophomore guard shot 55.6% from the field in the victories over Texas and NC State. She has scored 90 points in the first three games of the season, more than any other player in the last 20 years. Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart were both starting their senior seasons. Lee is out for the season after having knee surgery. They have started the year with a perfect record. On Thursday, there were 4 Iowans. The transfer senior guard from Oklahoma is leading the team in points per game. The sophomore guard is second in scoring and leads in assists. The biggest victory was by South Carolina. Let's give the nod to the UCLA Bruins, who beat the SEC in the conference tournament. The Lady Vols have had a disappointing start, but that doesn't detract from the fact that UCLA is off to a great start. UCLA's opponent in Monday's game, the Jesuits, got a nod for their victories over Texas andGonzaga in the Bahamas. The Jesuits are also perfect at 5. The big game led to Indiana's win. The quick impact of freshman Yarden Garzon from Israel is one of the reasons why the team is off to a great start this season. 1. South Carolina Gamecocks (4-0)
Previous ranking:
This week: vs. Cal Poly (Tuesday), vs. Hampton (Sunday)
Player of the Week: Azzi Fudd, UConn Huskies
Team of the Week: Kansas State Wildcats
Win of the Week: UCLA 80, Tennessee 63
Coach of the Week: Teri Moren, Indiana Hoosiers
Power Rankings
The depth of the South Carolina team is the same as it was last season, when they won the NCAA title. South Carolina is looking to solidify things at point guard, but it only had 11 turnovers compared to 22 for the Cardinal. Brea Beal's 3-pointer with 17 seconds left in regulation and Boston's tying shot with 2.1 remaining were big shots that the team needed. The road win against the second ranked team shows how good the team is.
The important shot for South Carolina was taken by Bree Hall.
2. Stanford Cardinal (5-1)
Previous ranking:
This week: vs. Florida Gulf Coast (Friday), vs. Grambling (Saturday), vs. Hawaii Rainbow Wahine (Sunday) (all games in Honolulu, Hawaii)
The film from the South Carolina game will teach the Cardinal a lot. There were some positives. Brink and Prechtel can wreak havoc on the inside defensively. Brink was 8 of 13 from the field and 7 of 8 from the foul line. Lepolo has just six college games under her belt. The day was ruined by the mental mistakes late in overtime, as well as a scoring slump.
3. UConn Huskies (3-0)
Previous ranking:
This week: vs. Duke (Friday), vs. Iowa/Oregon State (Sunday) (all games in Portland, Oregon)
Fudd had a big point production in the wins over Texas and NC State. They got 24 assists from Nika Mhl and a combined 30 points from the two players. Even with forward Dorka Juhasz out with a broken thumb, the Huskies are the favorites to win the Phil Knight Legacy tournament.
Iowa State staved off Northern Iowa with the help of a 26 point performance from a woman named Ashly Joens.
4. Iowa State Cyclones (4-0)
Previous ranking:
This week: vs. Michigan State (Thursday), vs. North Carolina/Oregon (Sunday) (all games in Portland, Oregon)
The Cyclones were defeated by Northern Iowa but rebounded to beat Columbia 99-76. Iowa State is the top ranked team in Portland. The Iowa State women's basketball team will face Michigan State on Thanksgiving, and coach Bill Fennelly is thankful for the return of the player who was the team's leading scorer. She has made 13 of her past 23 3-point attempts and Sunday was her career-high.
5. Ohio State Buckeyes (4-0)
Previous ranking:
This week: vs. Wright State (Wednesday), vs. North Alabama (Sunday)
Ohio and McNeese were defeated by the Buckeyes. They have had four different leading scorer in four games. Ohio State has forced an average of 33.5 turnovers per game. Division I has a guard with 27 steals.
You can check out this dime from the man.
6. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4-0)
Previous ranking:
This week: vs. American (Thursday), vs. Arizona State (Friday or Saturday) (all games in the Bahamas)
In a game that got chippy, the Fighting Irish dominated both Ball State and Northwestern. The Goombay Splash event is happening in the Bahamas. Arizona State plays Notre Dame on Saturday if the Irish beat American. The Irish play Friday if the opener is lost. It's likely to be Saturday.
7. Indiana Hoosiers (5-0)
Previous ranking:
This week: vs. Auburn (Friday), vs. Memphis (Saturday) (all games in Las Vegas)
The Hoosiers beat three teams last week and are going to the Las Vegas invitational. Both forward and guard are shooting well. Indiana is shooting 88.7%.
The Tar Heels played the Dukes.
8. North Carolina Tar Heels (4-0)
Previous ranking:
This week: vs. Oregon (Thursday), vs. Iowa State/Michigan State (Sunday) (all games in Portland, Oregon)
The Tar Heels will face their first real tests this weekend after beating South Carolina State and James Madison. Teonni Key missed last season due to a knee injury. In her college debut, Teonni had 13 points and seven boards.
9. Louisville Cardinals (4-1)
Previous ranking:
This week: vs. South Dakota State (Monday; Bahamas), vs. Longwood (Friday)
Louisville coach Jeff Walz called his team's lackluster defense a recipe for disaster after the team fell in overtime to Gonzaga. Thanks to their victory over Texas, the Cards were able to stay in the top 10.
10. Iowa Hawkeyes (4-1)
Previous ranking:
This week: vs. Oregon State (Friday), vs. UConn/Duke (Sunday) (all games in Portland, Oregon)
Clark went down with a twisted ankle in Iowa's loss at Kansas State and the team was concerned. She was back with vengeance on Sunday, and she was hoping to give the Hawkeyes another upset loss. Iowa heads to the Phil Knight Legacy tournament after Clark stopped that with 33 points and five assists.
11. NC State Wolfpack (4-1)
Previous ranking:
This week: vs. Vanderbilt (Thursday), vs. West Virginia (Friday) (all games in Mexico)
The Wolfpack beat Charlotte this past week, but then lost at the University of Connecticut. NC State's defense was not able to recover from being down . The Cancun Challenge is in Mexico.
12. LSU Tigers (5-0)
Previous ranking:
This week: vs. George Mason (Thursday), vs. UAB (Friday or Saturday) (all games in the Bahamas)
The team has scored at least 100 points in every game. Kim Mulkey was on a Louisiana Tech team that won the NCAA title after hitting the century mark six times in a row. LSU is getting a lot of attention from women's basketball fans for playing lower-tiered teams. It would be great to see the Tigers play Notre Dame, but they are not in the same pool.
The full highlights of the Bluejays' game with Northern Iowa.
13. Creighton Bluejays (4-0)
Previous ranking:
This week: at Omaha (Tuesday), at Xavier (Friday)
On Tuesday, the Bluejays beat the state's flagship school. They won by 19 points at Northern Iowa on Sunday, which is noteworthy since they lost to Iowa State by three points. The schools' arenas are only 6 miles apart in Omaha, so the schools are going for city supremacy in this week's game. The Bluejays play their first Big East game against the Musketeers.
14. Virginia Tech Hokies (3-0)
Previous ranking:
This week: vs. Kentucky (Monday), Missouri (Wednesday), Longwood (Sunday) (all games in the Bahamas)
It's difficult to say how good the Hokies are, as they have dominated three overmatched opponents thus far. They will face two SEC teams at the Baha Mar Hoops tournament in the Bahamas.
15. Utah Utes (4-0)
Previous ranking:
This week: vs. Alabama (Monday), vs. Ole Miss (Wednesday)
The Utahs played one game this week. The Sooners' high-risk/high-reward offensive style was taken advantage of by them. Utah scored 41 points in the third quarter of the game against Oklahoma. The Utes are going to play two SEC teams at a tournament in the Bahamas.
16. Maryland Terrapins (4-1)
Previous ranking:
This week: vs. DePaul (Friday), vs. Towson (Saturday), vs. Pittsburgh (Sunday) (all games in Fort Myers, Florida)
The Terrapins lost to South Carolina by 25 points because of players being lost to transfer and injuries. They have beaten all the others. It was still a noteworthy victory despite the injuries and the fact that Diamond Miller had 32 points and 10 rebound. Maryland is going to Florida this week for a basketball tournament.
Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas are no longer with us.
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