Kentucky women’s basketball improves to No. 16 in AP poll ahead of Feast Week
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky rises to No. 16 after wins over Purdue and No. 21 Louisville.
- Clara Strack leads UK in points and rebounds; Tonie Morgan leads nation in assists.
- Kentucky faces No. 7 Maryland and Morgan State in Feast Week; games stream on FloSports.
The Kentucky women’s basketball team’s first brush with power-conference competition raised its national profile, as the Wildcats jumped four spots in this week’s Associated Press Top 25.
Kentucky (7-0) is now No. 16, its highest ranking of the 2025-26 campaign, following a 76-35 home win over Purdue and a 72-62 road win at archrival Louisville, which was ranked No. 21 entering the Battle of Bluegrass. The Cardinals dropped to 23rd.
Junior center Clara Strack continues to impress for UK, now leading the team in points (16.9), rebounds (12.1), steals (1.6) and blocks (3.1) per contest, while senior point guard Tonie Morgan is No. 1 nationally with 8.9 assists per game.
The duo guided UK to success in each of their Week 3 games — including Morgan’s 19-point, seven-assist performance en route to securing both the Wildcats’ first ranked win of the season, and their first back-to-back double-figure victories against Louisville since the turn of the century.
In addition to Strack and Morgan (10.9 points), UK’s entire starting five is scoring in double figures. Graduate guard Jordan Obi is averaging 12.6 points, and senior forwards Amelia Hassett and Teonni Key are contributing 11.6 and 11.3 points, respectively.
Kentucky’s tallest task of the nonconference slate is up next, with a Feast Week matchup against No. 7 Maryland (7-0) at the Discover Puerto Rico Tournament at 5:30 p.m. EST Wednesday. Fans can watch the game on FloSports.
The Wildcats will also play Morgan State (1-5) in San Juan at 5:30 p.m. EST Friday with coverage also on FloSports.
The same eight Southeastern Conference teams are ranked in this week’s iteration of the poll: No. 2 South Carolina (6-0), No. 4 Texas (5-0), No. 5 LSU (6-0), No. 13 Ole Miss (4-0) and No. 17 Vanderbilt (6-0) maintained their positions from last week.
No. 9 Oklahoma (5-1) dropped one spot despite winning its sole game of the week, a 112-59 win against East Texas A&M. No. 15 Tennessee (5-1) improved one spot after defeating Middle Tennessee 85-41 and Coppin State 88-35.
No. 10 Iowa State (7-0) jumped two spots to enter the top 10m while in-state rival Iowa (6-0) improved eight spots to No. 11.
No. 25 North Carolina State (3-3) dropped nine spots, No. 24 Oklahoma State (5-1) dropped six and No. 18 Southern California (3-2) fell seven spots.
Caroline Makauskas’ AP Top 25 ballot
1. CONNECTICUT
The Huskies’ 72-69 defeat of No. 6 Michigan didn’t appear to be anything special in the first half, but its second half was one for the ages. UConn (6-0) led by as many as 20 points in the first half before the Wolverines (5-1) held the Huskies to just four points in the third quarter. Ahead of the game, Geno Auriemma said Michigan would be the best team they’d face this early in the year, and it took all the best his team had to finish the job.
Azzi Fudd, a projected lottery pick in the 2026 WNBA draft, scored 31 points in the neutral-site victory, and sophomore forward Sarah Strong added 16 points, 20 rebounds — 16 on the defensive end — six assists, three steals and four blocks.
Throughout the season, we hear a lot of talk about possible previews of March Madness matchups. Some of it comes to fruition, some of it ends up being smoke and mirrors; but if I were a betting Caroline, I’d expect both of these programs to make deep runs in the postseason.
The Huskies continued their power-conference tour with a 52-point rout of Utah on Sunday.
2. UCLA
There wasn’t a ton to be learned from the Bruins’ sole game this week — a 51-point defeat of Southern — but, with it, UCLA (6-0) recorded its sixth double-digit victory of the season. The Bruins’ smallest margin of victory was their 14-point win against top-10 Oklahoma on Nov. 10.
The most fanfare surrounding UCLA this past week came in the form of predictions following the lottery draw for the 2026 WNBA draft. Leading scorer Lauren Betts, who is averaging 15.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.2 blocks in 29 minutes per game, is a projected lottery pick, while teammates Gianna Kneepkens, Gabriela Jaquez and Kiki Rice are predicted to go in the first round.
The Bruins’ third ranked matchup of the season — a Wednesday night battle against No. 4 Texas — headlines an exciting Feast Week slate; like the UConn-Michigan game, I have high expectations for another banger.
3. SOUTH CAROLINA
South Carolina (6-0) dominated both of its Week 3 opponents, defeating Winthrop 106-56 and Queens 121-49.
Despite speculation, the Gamecocks announced the return of guard Maddy McDaniel to the program after she was suspended ahead of the team’s Nov. 11 win against Clemson. McDaniel was back for the team’s victory against Queens (N.C.), and Staley gave the following answer when asked about McDaniel in the postgame press conference.
“It was more on Maddy, and how she’s communicating with me and our staff, and communicating with her teammates,” Staley said. “Her teammates are the people that are the ones that was her voice. And they had a more powerful voice when it comes to that. Obviously, they like Maddy; they like all their teammates. They want our entire team together. And they voiced that.”
This Wednesday, South Carolina will face disjointed Duke (3-3) in what was expected by many to be another top-10 matchup during Feast Week. It would be surprising to me to see South Carolina win by fewer than 15 points, especially if sophomore forward Joyce Edwards keeps cooking as she has.
4. TEXAS
As previously mentioned, Texas (5-0) has a massive test ahead in its forthcoming game against UCLA.
Aside from an early game against then-ranked Richmond, the Longhorns haven’t faced any real competition of note; that said, Texas will likely learn a lot about itself in this one.
Is the Texas defense effective enough to slow down the high-scoring Bruins? Is freshman standout Aaliyah Crump ready for this level of play? Can leading scorer Madison Booker beat what’s sure to be a thoughtful, complex scouting report? Can Breya Cunningham and Kyla Oldacre hold their own on the boards?
To be honest, I’m not sure. But I’ll be seated on Wednesday afternoon to see how it all plays out. The Longhorns will also face the Pennsylvania Quakers (4-1) on Sunday afternoon.
5. LSU
The Tigers (6-0) have just one opponent this week, a 2-3 Marist team likely to end up as LSU’s latest victim in what is currently a six-game stretch of 100-point games.
Apart from last week’s 101-71 road win against Tulane — the Tigers’ first power-conference foe this season — LSU has posted at least 108 points in each of their wins so far, including four games with at least 112 points scored.
Another projected WNBA draft lottery pick, Flau’jae Johnson, led the way for LSU this week, posting 22 points in the win against the Green Wave, and 18 points in the team’s victory over Alcorn State on Thursday.
The rest of Caroline Makauskas’ Top 25 ballot: No. 6 Michigan, No. 7 Oklahoma, No. 8 Maryland, No. 9 TCU, No. 10 Iowa State, No. 11 North Carolina, No. 12 Southern California, No. 13 Vanderbilt, No. 14 Michigan State, No. 15 Tennessee, No. 16 Iowa, No. 17 Kentucky, No. 18 Washington, No. 19 Ole Miss, No. 20 Baylor, No. 21 Notre Dame, No. 22 Princeton, No. 23 West Virginia, No. 24 Louisville, No. 25 Oklahoma State.
