The undefeated ranks dwindled further, Paige Bueckers reached 2,000 career points faster than any former UConn player and Hannah Hidalgo returned from a brief injury, much to the dismay of Notre Dame’s opponents.
In another action-packed week, the top of the Associated Press Top 25 continued to move away from the bottom, with one notable exception.
South Carolina takes up its “gauntlet”
The Gamecocks (18-1, 6-0 SEC) call their 16-day streak of five top-20 opponents “the gauntlet,” but so far there has been little challenge.
They reached triple digits for the first time in a 101-60 victory over then-No. 13 Oklahoma, their largest win against a ranked team in program history. That pushed their average margin of victory in the three games that also include Texas and Arkansas to 25.3 points. South Carolina hosts LSU on Thursday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) and travels to Tennessee on Jan. 27 (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2).
The first quarters are headaches for the opponents. South Carolina outscored Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma by a combined 67-30 in the first 10 minutes, forcing them into cascading errors as the deficit grew. The 28-9 margin against Oklahoma was the largest, thanks to scoring contributions from seven of the 12 players who took the court.
It was the 12th time they had held an opponent to single digits in the first quarter and seven of those times were against ranked opponents. The most glaring poor start came in their lone loss to UCLA, when they fell behind 20-10 in 10 minutes. They quickly fell apart.
As they dismiss all the top teams that come their way, it becomes harder to imagine a Final Four without South Carolina.
Kansas State’s dormant status in question
Largely due to its participation in the Big 12, Kansas State has quietly established itself as a Final Four contender. The Wildcats haven’t upset anyone on their non-conference slate (an 18-point win over Creighton and an 11-point loss to Duke on a neutral field to headline), but they’ve soundly beaten the teams they were supposed to beat.
They are one of only two teams to rank in the top 10 in both offense and defense (third and fourth, respectively). No. 1 UCLA is the other, ranking ninth and sixth, respectively. The schools share another major differentiator: a competent, highly effective center that creates significant disparities.
The Wildcats (19-1, 7-0 Big 12) may not advance, putting a Final Four run without a clear replacement in question. Ayoka Lee, a 6-foot-6 fifth-year center who holds the NCAA Division I single-game scoring record, left Sunday’s game against Arizona State with an injury.
“It’s not good, guys.” head coach Jeff Mittie said. “I don’t have a definitive update, but it won’t take a week or two.”
Mittie said he spoke with Lee after the 81-69 victory, but did not speak to coaches or doctors. “It’s probably not good,” he added.
Lee, the program’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder, left the Arizona game earlier in the week after aggravating an ankle injury. But it started on Saturday before an early release. She is averaging a career-high 16 points in a career-low 19 minutes per game. His 33.5 points per 40 minutes rank second in DI and his 4.8 blocks per 40 minutes rank third.
The Wildcats have more depth at the position, unlike in years past when Lee missed significant time. They have three games left before hosting TCU (19-1, 7-0), the other undefeated team in the Big 12, on February 5.
Penn State Delivers Huge Big Ten Upset
It wasn’t on the bingo board.
Penn State earned its first conference victory by defeating undefeated Ohio State, 62-59, on Sunday at State College. It was the program’s first win against a top-10 team since 2012. The Buckeyes struggled to put points on the board without point guard Jaloni Cambridge, a national freshman watch list candidate of the year averaging 15.4 points, 4.1 assists and 2.1. stolen.
Cambridge’s two-game absence in December was inconsequential at home against Youngstown State, 87-39, and even against Stanford, 84-59, on the road in the Invisalign Bay Area Women’s Classic. She returned from a right shoulder injury in time for the start of conference play, but missed Sunday’s game due to illness.
Without his leadership, the Buckeyes’ (17-1, 6-1 Big Ten) offense was stagnant for long stretches against a team defensively ranked in the bottom quarter of the conference. The Nittany Lions (10-9, 1-7) performed well in an easy, undefeated schedule before the Big Ten brick wall called.
Ohio State didn’t score for the first 4:20 of the second quarter, allowing an eight-point lead to slip away in a disastrous 20-9 quarter. The Buckeyes went scoreless again over the final 6:45 of the game, going 2 for 12 in the fourth quarter.
The loss was also a wake-up call for Ohio State; Although unblemished thus far, the Buckeyes have yet to face the toughest part of their schedule. The iconic victory without cheating was that of Stanford. Big Ten favorites USC, UCLA and Maryland are coming.
The loss leaves two undefeated teams, both of whom are playing in ringed competitions this week. UCLA (17-0, 6-0 Big Ten) plays Baylor on a neutral court Monday (3 p.m. ET, FOX) and makes its first trip to Maryland on Sunday (2 p.m. ET, NBC). LSU (20-0, 5-0) faces South Carolina on the road.
Games of the week
The Coretta Scott King Classic at the Prudential Center in Newark on Monday features three ranked teams and a fourth receiving votes. No. 1 UCLA faces Baylor at 3 p.m. ET, followed by Texas and Maryland in a top-10 matchup.
Watching later in the week:
LSU (20-0, 5-0 SEC) at South Carolina (18-1, 6-0), Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN —The rivalry that has developed in recent years is in its post-Angel Reese era.
Tennessee (15-3, 3-3 SEC) at Texas (17-2, 4-1), Thursday, 9 p.m. ET on SECN — The Lady Vols lost their three games against Oklahoma, LSU and Vanderbilt by a total of four points.
UCLA (17-0, 6-0 Big Ten) at Maryland (16-1, 6-1), Sunday, 2 p.m. ET on NBC — Every game between the top four in the conference is a potential loss of ground.
Official AP Rankings
1.UCLA
2. South Carolina
3. Notre Dame
4. SJC
5. LSU
6. UConn
7.Texas
8. Maryland
9. TCU
10. Kansas State
11.Kentucky
12. Ohio State
13. North Carolina
14. Duke
15. Oklahoma
16. West Virginia
17.Tennessee
18. Georgia Tech
19.Alabama
20. NC State
21. Michigan State
22. Cal
23. Minnesota
24.Michigan
25. Baylor
Yahoo Sports AP voting
1. Notre Dame
2.UCLA
3. South Carolina
4. Southern California
5. Maryland
6.Texas
7. UConn
8. LSU
9. Kansas State
10. TCU
11.Kentucky
12. North Carolina
13. Ohio State
14. Duke
15.Tennessee
16.Alabama
17. Oklahoma
18. Georgia Tech
19. West Virginia
20. Michigan State
21. Minnesota
22. NC State
23.Michigan
24. Baylor
25. Creighton
