While the top five is largely unchanged aside from LSU making the jump from No. 7 to No. 5, this week’s Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll, released on Monday, features several key changes.
After an unpredictable holiday week slate, here are five takeaways from the poll.
LSU the lone newcomer to the top five
The LSU Tigers enter a top five that only saw No. 3 South Carolina (7-1) and No. 4 Texas (7-0) move up one spot. Top-ranked UCLA (8-0) and No. 2 UConn (6-0) remain atop the rankings after convincing wins in holiday tournaments.
LSU took care of business against No. 20 N.C. State with an 82-65 win and steamrolled North Carolina Central, 131-44. The Tigers are making 49.6 percent of their shots and are led by Flau’Jae Johnson’s 22.4 points per game and Aneesah Morrow’s 18.4 points and 13.3 rebounds.
Morrow only needs one more double-double to tie South Carolina star Aliyah Boston for the eighth-most in Division I history (83).
LSU looks dangerous, especially if Johnson and Morrow keep putting up those numbers.
Notre Dame suffers back-to-back losses
The Fighting Irish did not have a good holiday week on the hardwood.
With back-to-back losses to No. 17 TCU, 76-68, and Utah, 78-67, Notre Dame (5-2) falls from No. 3 to No. 10 in the rankings.
Three-point shooting was a struggle in both games with Notre Dame shooting 5-for-15 (33.3 percent) against TCU and 5-for-14 (35.7 percent) vs. Utah. The Fighting Irish also committed 22 turnovers against Utah. Star Hannah Hidalgo was held to 16 points and made just six of her 17 shot attempts in the loss to Utah.
If Notre Dame is going to right the ship, it has to convert on more of its three-point attempts and commit fewer turnovers going forward.
Duke, TCU leap into top 10 after massive wins
The Blue Devils move up five spots to No. 8, their highest ranking in a decade, after taking down then-No. 9 Kansas State, 73-62, and No. 8 Oklahoma, 109-99 in overtime, to win the Ball Dawgs Classic tournament in Las Vegas.
While Duke shot 56.3 percent from the floor and an impressive 11-for-20 from three (55 percent), its defense just held Columbia to three field goals total in the fourth quarter in a 77-61 victory.
If the Blue Devils defend at that level and keep shooting at an absurd rate, the ACC may go through them this season.
For the first time ever, TCU (8-0) is ranked in the top 10 after climbing eight spots to No. 9. The Horned Frogs scored their first win over an AP top five opponent since 2008 when they knocked off then-No. 3 Notre Dame, 76-68 on Friday.
With 20 points and 20 rebounds, Sedona Prince became the first player since Teaira McCowan in the 2018 national semifinals to have 20 points and 20 rebounds against an AP top three opponent.
The Horned Frogs are getting balanced production from Prince (20.1 PPG, 11.4 RPG) and Hailey Van Lith (19.9 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 7.1 APG), making them hard to defend, as the Fighting Irish found out.
West Virginia, Iowa State suffer setbacks
After starting the season 8-0, the Mountaineers suffered their first loss of the season to then-No. 5 Texas (7-0), 78-73, on Sunday. The loss drops West Virginia down from No. 12 to No. 15.
In the loss, West Virginia shot a miserable 3-for-12 from three (25 percent), got outrebounded 37-23 and turned the ball over 20 times. If the Mountaineers are going to be contenders in these big matchups, those areas will need to improve.
Iowa State (6-2) slides down to No. 20 after getting obliterated by then-No. 4 South Carolina, 76-36, on Thanksgiving Day. Prior to that, the Cyclones were upset by Northern Iowa, 87-75, and escaped an upset bid from Drake with an 80-78 win.
Iowa State struggled in the same areas as West Virginia. The Cyclones were 4-for-23 from behind the arc (17.4 percent), got outrebounded 46-32 and gave the ball away 19 times against the Gamecocks. That cannot happen, especially against quality opponents.
Michigan, Michigan State join the poll
The Michigan Wolverines (7-1) are led by freshman Syla Swords (18.8 PPG). The Wolverines hung around with South Carolina in a 68-62 loss on opening night and just defeated Virginia Tech (6-2), 76-65, to win the Fort Myers Tip-Off championship.
If Michigan can improve from three-point range (32.1 percent), it could be even more dangerous as the season progresses.
In-state rival Michigan State also joins the rankings at No. 24. The Spartans are 8-0 for the third time in program history.
Michigan State took down Vanderbilt (7-1) to win the Acrisure Holiday Invitational championship, 78-70. While they outshot Vanderbilt, Michigan State committed 24 turnovers. The Spartans will need to do a better job taking care of the ball, especially in close games.
