Kentucky women’s basketball moves into AP’s top 15 after OT win against rival Louisville

The Kentucky women’s basketball team jumped five spots in the rankings and into the top 15 of the Associated Press media poll ahead of Monday night’s home game against Purdue Fort Wayne.

The Wildcats (4-0), who are coming off a 71-61 overtime victory against Louisville at Memorial Coliseum on Saturday, are 15th in this week’s poll. As of last week UK was 20th and the Cardinals were 18th.

Louisville (2-2) didn’t completely fall out of the poll after its second loss. The Cardinals are 25th.

The top 12 in the poll was unchanged this week. South Carolina is still No. 1, followed by UConn, Southern Cal, Texas, UCLA, Notre Dame, LSU, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Kansas State, Maryland and Ohio State. The Gamecocks received all 31 first-place votes.

Among Southeastern Conference foes, Kenny Brooks’ UK team ranks fifth in the voting behind South Carolina (No. 1), Texas (No. 4), LSU (No. 7) and Oklahoma (No. 9), and ahead of Ole Miss (No. 17) and Alabama (No. 24). Vanderbilt and Tennessee are also receiving votes.

Kentucky’s statistical leaders through four games include Clara Strack in scoring (16.2 points per game), Amelia Hassett in rebounding (11.0), Georgia Amoore in assists (8.5) and steals (1.2), and Clara Silva in blocked shots (3.5).

This story was originally published November 18, 2024 at 12:43 PM.