Kentucky women’s basketball improves to No. 15 in AP poll after road win
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky rises to No. 15 after two wins, beating Miami and Central Michigan.
- Morgan, Key and Jordan Obi provided double-doubles and balanced scoring depth.
- Nebraska’s debut shifted rankings, giving the Big Ten nine teams and displacing SEC.
Kenny Brooks and the Kentucky Wildcats have achieved their highest ranking of the season, rising two spots in The Associated Press women’s college basketball top 25.
UK now sits at No. 15 following a two-win week. The Wildcats traveled to Coral Gables, Florida, for the ACC/SEC Challenge and defeated Quadrant 1 opponent Miami 64-48. They also defeated Central Michigan 82-55 in their return to Lexington on Sunday afternoon.
Though UK didn’t play a great game against the Hurricanes, it saw another strong performance from point guard Tonie Morgan, who continues to establish herself as a consistent scoring presence. Against Miami, Morgan scored a game-high 20 points. She was joined in double-figure scoring by junior center Clara Strack (13 points) and senior forward Teonni Key (11 points).
Against the Chippewas, the Wildcats employed a more balanced attack. Among UK’s starting five, only senior forward Amelie Hassett (eight points) contributed fewer than 12 points. Key scored a game-high 17 point and grabbed 11 rebounds. Morgan dropped a 12-point, 11-assist double-double. Strack posted 14 points. Graduate guard Jordan Obi added 14 points. Reserve guard Asia Boone added 11, while sophomore Lexi Blue tacked on six points.
While it’s true the team’s biggest tests still lie head, its steady progression toward a unified front on both ends of the floor is noticeable. This team appears deeper than last season’s, and similar concerns held last December, for the most part, ironed themselves out over time.
While there is no Georgia Amoore or Dazia Lawrence this year to save the day in tight situations, glimpses of greatness from Morgan, Obi and Key are promising, and bode well for another strong showing during fast-approaching conference play.
The team’s sole game this week, a Sunday road trip to the always-prepared Belmont, will serve as another great chance for fans to read the tea leaves and get a better sense of UK’s potential.
There wasn’t a tremendous amount of change within this week’s poll; the entire top 10 remains the same, including SEC teams No. 2 Texas (10-0), No. 3 South Carolina (9-1), No. 5 LSU (10-0) and No. 9 Oklahoma (9-1).
In addition to Kentucky, three poll mainstays around the SEC saw movement. Vanderbilt (9-0) improved one spot to No. 14, as did No. 18 Tennessee (6-2).
No. 17 Ole Miss (8-1) — which suffered its first loss of the season Sunday, a 61-60 edge by Kansas State — dropped four spots to its lowest ranking of the season to date.
The SEC, with its eight ranked teams, is no longer the best-represented conference in the rankings following No. 24 Nebraska’s (9-0) season debut, pushing the Big Ten to nine teams in the poll. This matches the record set last season for the most ranked teams from a single league.
Georgia and Alabama each received Top 25 votes for the second consecutive week.
Nebraska enters with a perfect record and wins over Virginia, North Dakota State and Penn State. The Cornhuskers replaced West Virginia (7-2), which lost 81-59 to Villanova at home.
Caroline Makauskas’ AP Top 25 ballot
1. Connecticut
There’s just one opponent on the calendar this week for the Huskies, who handled both South Florida — 85-51 on the road — and Big East foe DePaul — 102-35 — in their ongoing tear through the 2025-26 campaign.
On Saturday, UConn (9-0) travels to Los Angeles for a battle with No. 16 Southern California (7-2) in one of my most anticipated games of the week. Sure, it’ll be the second straight game in which the Trojans face a former teammate — on Sunday, there were reports of fans booing transfer Avery Howell in USC’s 59-50 win over Washington (8-1) — but, with all due respect to Tina Langley’s operation out in Seattle, I think ex-Trojan Kayleigh Heckel and UConn will be a much stronger pack of Huskies to tame.
While we saw Michigan give UConn its biggest punch a couple of weeks ago, I don’t expect Southern California to be as competitive with the nation’s top team. That said, USC freshman Jazzy Davidson is a special player. Special enough to disrupt a humming UConn roster with more experience, though? That is the question.
UConn is deeper, stronger defensively and more efficient. The Huskies rank within the top 10 nationally in both field-goal percentage (55.6%) and points allowed (51.9) per game. They shoot nearly 40% from beyond the arc. And they have Azzi Fudd, whose final-season quest to stand confident in her decision-making continues to separate her as one of the WNBA’s top prospects.
2. Texas
Years ago, now, five-star prospect Breya Cunningham chose Arizona over a list of finalists that included Texas.
At the time, it felt like a big whiff for the Longhorns, whose stubborn commitment to relentless defense and conditioning — not to mention a knack for identifying and utilizing productive posts — could’ve used a talent like Cunningham. But former Arizona coach Adia Barnes was dominating the recruiting trail and pulled in four top-100 prospects, including three ranked within the top 25 of that 2023 cycle. Texas did, however, reel in two top-100 recruits that season: the since-transferred Gisella Maul (California), and future All-America forward Madison Booker.
Fast-forward to this past offseason, and Cunningham opted to join the Longhorns.
In Sunday’s 101-42 victory over Prairie View A&M, Cunningham put on a show; the forward dropped 30 points, 14 rebounds and one assist in 28 minutes on the floor. Critics would be quick to point out that her performance came against a sub-.500 team, but those of us who’ve been following Cunningham since her initial recruitment know that she’s no stranger to impacting great teams, regardless of the opponent.
Similarly to LSU hanging 100 on underwhelming challengers, Texas’ games against teams like Prairie View A&M, or Louisiana (a 62-point win in its third game of the season) provide opportunities for players not named Booker or Rori Harmon to better adjust to the Longhorns’ system and standard. For Texas, though, these games also serve as a respite from its brutal nonconference slate.
Against the Panthers, Cunningham became the sixth Longhorn to lead her team in scoring across its 10 contests. She also recorded her fourth game of the year as the Longhorns’ high rebounder, a regularity which will benefit both Cunningham and her team come SEC play.
Texas also defeated its fourth top-25 opponent of the season Thursday, a 79-64 win over then-No. 11 North Carolina in the ACC/SEC Challenge. Cunningham scored no points in 11 minutes, but it ultimately didn’t matter; four Longhorns delivered at least 11 points, including 22 points from sophomore Jordan Lee.
This week, Texas will play at UT Rio Grande Wednesday and No. 13 Baylor (9-1) Sunday afternoon in Fort Worth.
3. UCLA
The Bruins (9-1) teased this weekend the upcoming debut of five-star freshman Sienna Betts, the younger sister of All-America center and projected WNBA lottery pick Lauren Betts.
The younger Betts has yet to play due to a lower-leg injury sustained during the preseason. When she officially takes the court for UCLA and gets her bearings, it could be a good indicator as to just how high a ceiling the Bruins have. If she’s as good as advertised, then UCLA may go from predicted Big Ten champion and expected Final Four returner to a national championship squad.
Of course, basketball is a fickle game, and injuries around the Big Ten alone have already shifted expectations for teams (Maryland, I’m looking at you) this season. But if you’re Cori Close, you have to feel pretty good about the fact that your team has already proven it doesn’t even need a massive game from Lauren Betts to win.
The elder Betts did, however, post a season-best performance in the Bruins’ 80-59 win against Oregon (10-1) in their first conference game of the year. The center recorded 24 points, 14 rebounds, one assist, one steal and five blocks against the Ducks.
This week, UCLA gets a break. The Bruins won’t play again until their Dec. 16 matchup against Cal Poly.
4. South Carolina
South Carolina got another scare last week, when then-No. 22 Louisville nearly pulled off the upset at the Yum! Center before falling 79-77 to the Gamecocks.
The close win again demonstrated the importance of Madina Okot, Dawn Staley’s senior center, who pulled in 13 rebounds — 10 of which were defensive boards — and recorded 23 points and two assists. The game was a reminder of how fun it is to watch junior guard Tessa Johnson, who dropped 20 points, but also of the Gamecocks’ lack of depth this season.
Against the Cardinals, South Carolina got only four bench points, a statistic fans and onlookers are used to seeing the Gamecocks dominate. It helps that South Carolina’s starters — Okot, Johnson, Ta’Niya Latson, Raven Johnson and Joyce Edwards — are stars in their own right, but the statistic reared its head in the team’s Feast Week loss to a shorthanded Texas, against which South Carolina scored just two bench points. Against then-No. 8 Southern California, the Gamecocks’ other ranked opponent so far, the South Carolina bench scored six bench points.
Given what South Carolina has managed during nonconference play, it’s not yet a major point of concern. And there are plenty of teams that have done more with less over the years, including Kentucky last season. But, as December continues and SEC play looms, it’s certainly something to watch.
5. LSU
For those who haven’t spent a ton of time watching the Tigers, I implore you to give them a shot.
What LSU is doing so far this year is unprecedented, with nine (!) games in which the team has scored more than 100 points. Its inevitable first game with fewer than 100 points finally happened last week, with a 93-77 defeat of Duke at Cameron Indoor as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge. After trailing by two possessions at the end of the first quarter, LSU proceeded to remind everyone that it is, in fact, still very much the LSU you’ve come to know under coach Kim Mulkey.
Against the Blue Devils, six Tigers posted double-figure scoring, and only Flau’jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams played more than 30 minutes. Mulkey called for improvement on the defensive front, and the Tigers followed up that win with the third-highest point total during her tenure, a 126-62 win at New Orleans.
This week, LSU has just one game — a neutral-site contest Saturday against Mulkey’s alma mater, Louisiana Tech, in New Orleans. The Techsters currently sit at 4-3 after a victory against South Alabama and will face Grambling before running into the Tigers’ buzzsaw.
The rest of Caroline Makauskas’ Top 25 ballot: No. 6 Michigan, No. 7 Maryland, No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 9 TCU, No. 10 Iowa State, No. 11 Vanderbilt, No. 12 North Carolina, No. 13 Southern California, No. 14 Iowa, No. 15 Baylor, No. 16 Washington, No. 17 Kentucky, No. 18 Ohio State, No. 19 Tennessee, No. 20 Princeton, No. 21 Ole Miss, No. 22 Notre Dame, No. 23 Louisville, No. 24 Oklahoma State, No. 25 Nebraska.
