Women’s college basketball power rankings: Texas up to No. 3, LSU in top five

JuJu Watkins made more history this week. In USC’s 87-81 win over No. 11 Colorado on Friday, the Trojans’ freshman phenom scored 42 points, breaking Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller’s school record for most 30-point games in a season with her 11th. And to make the achievement even sweeter, Miller was sitting courtside to witness it all.

It was just a few weeks ago that Watkins made headlines for scoring 51 points in a road win against Stanford. The Trojans were riding a seven-game winning streak, which started with that victory over the Cardinal, until No. 18 Utah broke it Sunday afternoon with a 74-68 win at the Galen Center.

That was hardly the only upset of this past week. In fact, there was quite a bit of shakeup in the power rankings with Iowa, Stanford, North Carolina State and Oregon State all taking losses. But while those teams might have stumbled, South Carolina continued to dominate, pummeling Kentucky 103-55 on Sunday. Six Gamecocks scored in double figures, with Bree Hall (18) and MiLaysia Fulwiley (17) leading the way. 

In addition to Dawn Staley’s group, Ohio State, Texas, Virginia Tech and LSU are other teams that are on a hot streak as we head into March. The Hokies and Tigers made the biggest leaps this week thanks to sharp shooting and tough defense. Virginia Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley scored 34 points in a 74-62 win over North Carolina on Sunday for its 10th straight win, while Hailey Van Lith scored 26 points and Angel Reese had a double-double (11 points, 15 rebounds) in LSU’s 75-60 win over Tennessee. With that performance, Reese has now surpassed 2,000 career points.

And in Caitlin Clark news, the Iowa guard got her 16th career triple-double and fifth of this season in a 101-85 win over Illinois on Sunday. Her stat line read: 24 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists. She has now scored a grand total of 3,617 points and is quickly closing in on all-time leading scorer Pete Maravich’s record of 3,667.

Here are this week’s women’s college basketball power rankings:

1. South Carolina
Record: 27-0, 14-0
Weekly results: Defeated Alabama, 72-44; defeated Kentucky, 103-55

2. Ohio State
Record: 24-3, 15-1
Weekly results: Defeated Penn State, 82-69; defeated Maryland, 79-66

3. Texas
Record: 26-3, 13-3
Weekly results: Defeated Texas Tech, 77-72; defeated UCF, 87-56

4. Virginia Tech
Record: 23-4, 14-2
Weekly results: Defeated North Carolina, 74-62

5. LSU
Record: 24-4, 11-3
Weekly results: Defeated Texas A&M, 81-58; defeated Auburn, 71-66; defeated Tennessee, 75-60

6. Iowa
Record: 24-4, 13-3
Weekly results: Lost to Indiana, 86-69; defeated Illinois, 101-85

7. USC
Record: 21-5, 11-5
Weekly results: Defeated No. 11 Colorado, 87-81; lost to No. 18 Utah, 74-68

8. Stanford
Record: 24-4, 13-3
Weekly results: Lost to Arizona, 68-61; defeated Arizona State, 81-67

9. UConn
Record: 24-5, 16-0
Weekly results: Defeated No. 21 Creighton, 73-53; defeated DePaul, 104-67

10. UCLA
Record: 23-3, 11-3
Weekly results: Defeated No. 18 Utah, 82-52

Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of “Strong Like a Woman,” published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her on Twitter @LakenLitman.

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