Arkansas makes its debut this week in my Power 10 women's college basketball rankings — which means there is a little bit of movement near the bottom of the top 10.
First, here are my rankings for Week 5, which takes into account all games through Dec. 20. Last week's rankings are in parentheses:
- Stanford (1)
- UConn (2)
- South Carolina (3)
- Louisville (4)
- NC State (5)
- Baylor (6)
- Oregon (7)
- Arizona (8)
- Texas A&M (10)
- Arkansas (NR)
You'll see there is not a whole lot of movement from last week. Kentucky (No. 9 last week) has been knocked out of my top 10 after AP No. 24 DePaul upset the Wildcats and gave them their first loss of the season, 86-82.
My No. 1 through No. 8 remain the same as last week. Stanford (6-0), UConn (4-0), Louisville (5-0), NC State (8-0), Oregon (7-0), Arizona (6-0), and Texas A&M (8-0) all are undefeated. Stanford, by the way, downed Pacific (104-61) and USC (80-60) since my last rankings. That victory over Pacific was the most notable because it was coach Tara VanDerveer's 1,099th career victory. That moved her past the legendary Pat Summitt as the all-time winningest coach in DI women's college basketball history.
The 8-1 Razorbacks are on five-game winning streak, including an upset win against then No.-4 Baylor. Arkansas' only loss was to Maryland in the fourth game of the season.
Kentucky's loss came in a back-and-forth game where DePaul capitalized on the fast break. The Blue Demons scored 38 points in transition and made 11-of-12 free throws. This was DePaul’s first win over a top-10 team since defeating No. 8 Louisville back in 2016.
Soooo yesterday was fun
— DePaul Women's Hoops (@DePaulWBBHoops) December 17, 2020
Let’s run the highlights #DePaulBall pic.twitter.com/kXuV69Slgb
Sonya Morris knocked down 23 points to lead DePaul. Five Blue Demons scored in double figures — including Deja Church with 18, and Lexi Held, Darrione Rogers, and Dee Bekelja with 12 each.
Soooo yesterday was fun 😏
— DePaul Women's Basketball (@DePaulWBBHoops) December 17, 2020
🎥 Let’s run the highlights #DePaulBall 🏀😈 pic.twitter.com/kXuV69Slgb
Kentucky’s Chasity Patterson led her team with 22 points. All-American guard Rhyne Howard and Dre’una Edwards had double-double performances with 18 points each.
The Wildcats had a bounce-back win against Wofford College, 98-37, later in the week, but the upset loss means I’m moving Texas A&M up to No. 9 in my Power 10 after the undefeated Aggies improved to 8-0 with wins over Sam Houston State and Rice last week.
AP RANKINGS: STANFORD STILL NO. 1, OREGON STATE FALLS OUT OF WOMEN'S BASKETBALL AP TOP 25
Arkansas outscores its opponents by almost 22 points per game. This team does a great job attacking the basket and making their opponents pay at the free-throw line. The Razorbacks shoot 71 percent from the stripe making 19.6 free throws per game.
Arkansas has a strong core in Chelsea Dungee, Destiny Slocum, Makayla Daniels and Amber Ramirez all averaging in double digit figures. Dungee is the Razorbacks’ main offensive threat averaging 18.9 points per game. Adding Oregon state transfer Destiny Slocum to the mix has created a winning formula for Arkansas. She follows Dungee in scoring with 16 per game.
Arkansas will play UAPB on Dec. 21 before they head into conference play.
