South Carolina women's basketball again earns high spot in AP rankings

Last week, South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley and her Gamecocks pushed up to the No. 2 spot in the updated AP top 25. Only the team that beat them last month, the UCLA Bruins, ranked higher.

The Gamecocks had dropped all the way to the 4th spot following the defeat in Los Angeles. However, a strong stretch of play since then earned USC its top-2 spot in last week’s poll. USC has won its last six games by an average of 31 points per game, including an average margin of victory of 28 points in three wins over top-15 opponents.

That hierarchy remained in place this week. When the latest AP poll dropped on Monday, South Carolina remained at No. 2 behind UCLA. There was plenty of movement behind the Gamecocks and Bruins. Just like last week, the pollsters gave the Gamecocks one 1st place vote.

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You can see the entire AP top 25 below (1st place votes in parentheses):

1. UCLA Bruins (30)
2. South Carolina Gamecocks (1)
3. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1)
4. Southern Cal Trojans
5. Texas Longhorns
6. LSU Tigers
7. UConn Huskies
8. Maryland Terrapins
9. Oklahoma Sooners
10. Ohio State Buckeyes
11. TCU Horned Frogs
12. Kansas State Wildcats
13. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
14. Duke Blue Devils
15. Tennessee Lady Volunteers
16. Kentucky Wildcats
17. North Carolina Tar Heels
18. West Virginia Mountaineers
19. Michigan State Spartans
20. Alabama Crimson Tide
21. Cal Golden Bears
22. NC State Wolfpack
23. Michigan Wolverines
24. Iowa Hawkeyes
25. Ole Miss Rebels

This week, South Carolina plays just once because of Christmas break. SEC conference play will begin after the New Year.

This Sunday, December 29th, the Gamecocks will meet up with the in-state Wofford Terriers at Colonial Life Arena. Tip-off will be at 2:00 p.m., and the game will broadcast on SEC Network and stream on the ESPN app.

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