South Carolina women's basketball holding tight at No. 2 in AP top 25

South Carolina women’s basketball will head into Thanksgiving’s Geico Players Era Championship with a perfect 6-0 overall record. Dawn Staley’s team scored 227 points combined in blowout wins over Winthrop and Queens last week and will look to take that offensive momentum with them to Las Vegas this week.

Ahead of that trip, the Associated Press released its top 25 rankings for week four. Just as they were in the preseason and in every poll since then, South Carolina slotted in at No. 2.

The Gamecocks received just one first-place vote, marking two fewer than the last week’s poll. The UConn Huskies remain at No. 1 and now hold 30 first-place votes. The UCLA Bruins matched Carolina with one first-place ballot inclusion.

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You can check out the entire AP top 25 below (overall first-place votes in parentheses):

1. UConn Huskies (30)
2. South Carolina Gamecocks (1)
3. UCLA Bruins (1)
4. Texas Longhorns
5. LSU Tigers
6. Michigan Wolverines
7. Maryland Terrapins
8. TCU Horned Frogs
9. Oklahoma Sooners
10. Iowa State Cyclones
11. Iowa Hawkeyes
12. North Carolina Tar Heels
13. Ole Miss Rebels
14. Tennessee Lady Volunteers
15. Baylor Bears
16. Kentucky Wildcats
17. Vanderbilt Commodores
18. Southern Cal Trojans
19. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
20. Michigan State Spartans
21. West Virginia Mountaineers
22. Washington Huskies
23. Louisville Cardinals
24. Oklahoma State Cowboys
25. NC State Wolfpack

Also receiving votes: Stanford Cardinal, South Dakota State Jackrabbits, Ohio State Buckeyes, Richmond Spiders, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Texas Tech Red Raiders, Princeton Tigers, South Dakota Coyotes, Oregon Ducks, Kansas Jayhawks, Fairfield Stags

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South Carolina has not been below seventh in the AP poll at any point since the preseason poll ahead of the 2019-2020 season. The Gamecocks finished that year as the No. 1 team in the country before the Covid-19 pandemic canceled the NCAA Tournament.

The Gamecocks’ current No. 2 spot is also first in the SEC. USC is one of eight total Southeastern Conference teams ranked in the top 25.

The 2025-2026 South Carolina women’s basketball schedule includes games against 10 currently ranked opponents.

The Gamecocks already beat the Southern Cal Trojans (No. 18) and has games on the schedule against the Louisville Cardinals (No. 23), Texas Longhorns (No. 4), Oklahoma Sooners (No. 9), Vanderbilt Commodores (No. 17), Tennessee Lady Volunteers (No. 14), LSU Tigers (No. 5), Ole Miss Rebels (No. 13), and Kentucky Wildcats (No. 16). The schedule also could include a game against the UCLA Bruins (No. 3) at the Players Era Championship. If not, USC will face the Texas Longhorns (No. 4) in that game.

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This week, the Gamecocks will play twice in Las Vegas.

First, on Wednesday, November 26th, South Carolina will face off against Duke at about 4:30 p.m. (Eastern), following the conclusion of UCLA-Texas. The Blue Devils are a talented team that began the year in the top 10 of the AP poll; however, three early-season losses have booted Kara Lawson’s team from the top 25. The Gamecocks currently own a six-game winning streak over the Blue Devils that dates back to A’ja Wilson’s senior season in Columbia. The showdown will broadcast on TruTV and stream on HBO Max.

Then, the winner of USC-Duke will take on the winner of UCLA-Texas. Either way, South Carolina will face an AP top-5 squad. That Players Era Championship Game contest will be on Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 27th at 8:00 p.m. (Eastern), also on TruTV and HBO Max. The third-place game will then begin around 10:30 p.m. (Eastern), following the conclusion of the title game. It will also be on TruTV and HBO Max.

NEW! Message board for South Carolina Women’s Basketball!