South Carolina women's basketball remains just shy of AP top spot

South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley and her Gamecocks dominated the Lone Star State over the last week. First, USC smacked the Texas A&M Aggies at Colonial Life Arena by a score of 90-49. Then, on Sunday, Carolina beat the Texas Longhorns 67-50 with a performance much more dominant than the score might indicate. Following their two big wins, the Gamecocks should have inched closer to the top spot in the AP top 25.

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As the Associated Press updated its top 25 rankings on Monday, South Carolina held at No. 2. However, the Gamecocks fell a little further behind the first-place UCLA Bruins this week. Last week, USC held one first place AP vote. Now, even though they delivered a big-time performance against another top team, that number has dropped to zero.

Despite the strange rankings decision, Dawn Staley’s team is showing itself to be a title contender once again.

Carolina’s wins over Texas and Texas A&M pushed their overall winning streak to 11 games and their SEC record to 4-0. The Gamecocks also reclaimed their top spot in the NET rankings (from Texas).

Because of the wins, South Carolina’s regular season SEC win streak has grown to 51 games. That is an all-time SEC record. They have not lost a conference game in the regular season since 2021.

You can see the entire AP top 25 below (first place votes in parentheses):

1. UCLA Bruins (29)
2. South Carolina Gamecocks
3. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (2)
4. Southern Cal Trojans
5. LSU Tigers
6. UConn Huskies
7. Texas Longhorns
8. Maryland Terrapins
9. Ohio State Buckeyes
10. TCU Horned Frogs
11. Kansas State Wildcats
12. Kentucky Wildcats
13. Oklahoma Sooners
14. North Carolina Tar Heels
15. Tennessee Lady Volunteers
16. Duke Blue Devils
17. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
18. Cal Golden Bears
19. Alabama Crimson Tide
20. West Virginia Mountaineers
21. NC State Wolfpack
22. Michigan State Spartans
23. Utah Utes
24. Minnesota Golden Gophers
    T- 24. Oklahoma State Cowboys

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Before the next AP poll releases next Monday, South Carolina will play two more SEC matchups. In fact, the Gamecocks will face off against two ranked conference opponents as part of a four-game stretch against ranked Southeastern Conference teams.

Next up for South Carolina will be a date with a ranked Alabama team. The No. 2 Gamecocks and No. 19 Crimson Tide will play in Tuscaloosa at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. The contest is not available on traditional television but will be streamed on SEC Network+.

Then, on Sunday, USC will take on the No. 13 Oklahoma Sooners. The first-year SEC foe will travel to Colonial Life Arena for Carolina’s We Back Pat contest. The game will tip at 3:00 p.m., will air on ESPN, and will stream on the ESPN app.

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