A few weeks ago, we debuted our ranking of the top teams outside the BSC Conferences (ACC, Big Ten, SEC, Pac-10, Big East, Big 12). Now that the season's started, we're back for Round Two.
1. Xavier (2-0) - Last week: 1 - As advertised in victories at South Carolina and Michigan. Here's why it's fun to play on the same team with twin towers Ta'Shia Phillips and Amber Harris - Musketeers junior guard Katie Rutan made 7 3-pointers Monday night against Michigan - in the first half.
2. TCU (1-0) - Last week: 2 - Flexed their considerable muscle in a 58-point rout of Houston Baptist. Emily Carter became just the 12th Horned Froggie (I can say that; I went to school there) in program history to surpass 1,000 career points.
3. Green Bay (2-0) - Last week: 3 - Nice job in beating Minnesota to win the Golden Gophers' own tournament, as Williams Arena is a tough place to play. Adrian Ritchie (19 ppg) earned tournament MVP and Horizon League Player of the Week honors.
4. Temple (0-1) - Last week: 5 - Qwedia Wallace was named Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Week after she lit up No. 7 Ohio State for 32 points (7 3-pointers) in an extremely respectable 84-75 loss.
5. Dayton (0-2) - Last week: 3 - No shame in losing in double overtime to Penn State and at Michigan State. But not closing out the Nittany Lions had to really sting - the Flyers led by eight with just over two minutes left in regulation.
6. South Dakota State (2-0) - Last week: 20 - A rout over Utah State and a quality decision over Hampton boosts the Jackrabbits into the Preseason WNIT semifinals.
7. Fresno State (2-0) - Last week: 7 - Two road victories and a whole lot of buckets - the Bulldogs hung 120 on Sacramento State.
8. UALR (1-0) - Last week: 9 - Chastity Reed scored 31 points (on 13-of-19 shooting) in a 76-51 rout of a decent Davidson team. Can't wait to see what the Trojans can do at Texas A&M Tuesday night.
9. Old Dominion (1-0) - Last week: 14 - The Lady Monarchs played like a team intent on returning to glory and engineered arguably the best win by any non-BCS conference team with Sunday's gritty 65-63 home win over Georgia Tech.
10. Hampton (1-1) - Last week: 24 - It's not easy to beat James Madison in Harrisonburg. But to call the Lady Pirates' victory a major upset is to ignore just how well this team was playing at the end of 2009-10 and how much of that talent is back for more.
11. Gonzaga (1-1) - Last week: 8 - The Bulldogs underachieved (by their own admission) in a season-opening loss at USC, then returned home and took out their frustrations on Division II Whitman College (114-40). Next up: Stanford.
12. East Tennessee State (2-0) - Last week: Not ranked - That 96-84 victory over a good Richmond team opened our eyes. If the injury-plagued Latisha Belcher continues to give this team anything close to the 19-point, 11-rebound effort she threw at the Spiders, look out.
13. Illinois State (1-0) - Last week: Not ranked - The Redbirds kicked off the Stephanie Glance Era in style by posting their first victory at Illinois since 1982.
14. Bowling Green (1-1) - Last week: 10 - Since the 14:35 mark of the first half of Bowling Green's opener, the Falcons have outscored Evansville and Creighton by a combined 40 points. Problem is, they spotted Evansville a 16-0 lead in that opening 5:25, just enough to lead to a 63-62 loss.
15. Brigham Young (0-1) - Last week: 15 - The Cougars acquitted themselves well in a 69-54 loss at No. 5 Duke.
16. San Diego State (0-1) - Last week: 11 - Oh, what might have been - the Aztecs led No. 15 UCLA by eight at the half, only to fall victim to the Bruins' defensive pressure in a 55-48 loss. Arizona transfer Courtney Clements scored 19 points in her SDSU debut.
17. Tulane (1-0) - Last week: 12 - The Green Wave tuned up for Tuesday's visit from Mississippi State by rallying past South Alabama 72-62. Sophomore guard Olivia Grayson led the way with 21 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists.
18. Princeton (1-0) - Last week: 13 - It was all good for Devona Allgood, who earned Ivy League Co-Player of the Week honors after her 20-point, 7-rebound, 3-block effort in the Tigers' 78-37 spanking of Fairleigh Dickinson. Next up: at Rutgers on Thursday.
19. James Madison (0-1) - Last week: 7 - Injuries and subpar low-post play made the Dukes an inviting target for legitimately dangerous Hampton.
20. - Louisiana Tech (1-0) - Last week: Not ranked - Adrienne Johnson's 25 points led the Lady Techsters to a 33-point victory over Prairie View A&M.
21. Marist (1-1) - Last week: 16 - The Red Foxes kept things interesting before falling by 14 to No. 14 St. John's, then rebounded by whipping Grambling.
22. Florida Gulf Coast (1-0) - Last week: 18 - It wasn't pretty, but the Eagles did just enough to close out Seton Hall and spoil Anne Donovan's return to college coaching. FGCU has now won 25 straight at home, the fourth-longest current streak in the country.
23. Oral Roberts (2-0) - Typical Golden Eagles speedball - they've averaged 115 points in the two games, and Kevi Lupar is scoring at a 32 ppg clip.
24. Delaware (1-0) - Sophomore sensation Elena Delle Donne picked up right where she left off as she dropped 36 points on UMBC.
25 (tie). Evansville (1-0) - The Lady Aces probably deserve more credit after taking down Bowling Green.
25 (tie). Central Arkansas (1-1): Sophomore Megan Hebert earned Southland Conference Player of the Week honors after averaging 22 points and 15 rebounds in a rout of Hendrix College and an 11-point loss at Alabama.
Dropped out: Liberty, Hartford, Lamar, Lehigh
from 7 to 19? come on now....
ReplyDeleteWe know the Dukes are capable of much better; that's why we started them out at No. 7. But with all due respect to Hampton, JMU did not play to its capabilities in that opener, and that's all we have to go on right now. We still think the elements are there for JMU to develop into a national force. We just need to see it.
ReplyDeleteIn the next five games LA Tech plays Western Kentucky, UALR, Houston, Missouri State and Mississippi State. We will find out just how good they are.
ReplyDeleteThat's the beauty of a weekly poll. You have to keep earning your spot.
ReplyDeleteLouisiana Tech dismantled a VERY good Western Kentucky team by 16 last night. The Lady Techsters are heading to play your No. 9 UALR team Friday night in Little Rock. Folks need to learn who Adrienne Johnson is ... she is one of the best-kept secrets in college basketball.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, that's one of the main reasons we do these rankings, to identify and spotlight some of the really good teams and players that fly under the mainstream media radar. Johnson certainly does seem like she can really ball, and we'll definitely keep her in our sights.
ReplyDeleteTake the top 6 teams of the MAC seriously, not just BG-signed Toledo Rocket still in WNIT who has defeated BG, Dayton, Pitt etc...and expect to do so again.
ReplyDelete