Kentucky women’s basketball sits just outside AP top 10 as SEC play looms
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky moved to No. 11 after 96-53 win; bench players logged extended minutes.
- Freshman Kaelyn Carroll hit six 3s for 18 points and added five rebounds.
- Eight SEC teams remain ranked; Kentucky’s rise positions them before SEC play.
With just one game remaining in Kenny Brooks and Kentucky’s nonconference schedule, the UK women’s basketball team finds itself just outside the top 10 in this week’s Associated Press women’s college basketball Top 25.
After a 96-53 blowout of Wright State, Kentucky improved one spot to No. 11 in the rankings.
The Wildcats (12-1) made quick work of the 5-9 Raiders, so much so that — thanks to 15-made 3-pointers and a 22-point scoring run to close out the first half — Brooks played the end of his bench.
And not just in garbage time; from 25 minutes for true freshman Kaelyn Carroll, to 10 minutes for Brooks’ daughter, Gabby, Big Blue Nation got perhaps the longest look at Kentucky’s non-starters it has since Brooks’ hiring in 2024.
Against Wright State, Carroll recorded the best statistical game of her young career; the former five-star posted 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field, all behind the 3-point line She also grabbed five rebounds and a pair of steals.
The freshman hadn’t played significant minutes since UK’s Nov. 28 rout of Morgan State (24 minutes), despite Brooks’ insistence ahead of the season that Carroll would be an important piece in the team’s success this season.
Fans also got to see a different starting lineup (another Brooks anomaly), due to starting senior forward Teonni Key sitting out with an injury. The injury is not expected to sideline Key for long, and, with the team’s SEC opener at LSU looming on New Year’s Day, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Key was shut down for the remainder of 2025.
Beyond the obvious — Clara Strack is a special talent; Tonie Morgan (8.3 assists per contest) can find any of her teammates at any time; Jordan Obi would’ve done amazing things on last season’s roster if she hadn’t been hurt — Kentucky’s nonconference slate hasn’t revealed as much as I had hoped.
However, a lack of truly consistent, great basketball being played at the top levels of the sport has opened the door for the Wildcats to find themselves higher in the rankings than, at least at the timing of the writing of this story, I expected.
Nevertheless, this is Kentucky’s highest ranking of the season thus far, and positions the team well ahead of the start of SEC play.
Just as was the case in each prior edition of this season’s polls, eight SEC teams are ranked; No. 2 Texas (14-0), No. 3 South Carolina (12-1), No. 5 LSU (13-0), No. 8 Oklahoma (11-1) remain in the same spots as last week’s rankings.
No. 12 Vanderbilt (12-0) joins the Wildcats as risers this week, also moving up one spot. Vandy, which UK will play twice this season, posted three wins last week by a combined point differential of 108, beating South Florida, Albany and Texas Southern.
Despite defeating Mississippi Valley State 102-34, and Old Dominion 86-57, Ole Miss dropped one spot to No. 14. No. 23 Tennessee took the league’s biggest fall, dropping six spots after an 89-65 loss to Louisville in Brooklyn, New York.
Caroline Makauskas’ Team of the Week
Iowa State
If you haven’t been watching Iowa State’s Audi Crooks play throughout her career, allow me to extend an invitation to view one of the most fun all-around players in college basketball.
Against Big 12 foe Kansas on Sunday, Crooks recorded the fourth 40-point game of her career, her third this season. In 30 minutes on the floor, Crooks delivered 41 points on 19-of-28 shooting from the field with four rebounds and three assists.
Crooks leads the country in scoring at 28.9 points per game on 72% shooting from the field (second in the nation), and averages 5.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 0.4 steals and 0.8 blocks per contest.
The Cyclones, led by longtime coach Bill Fennelly, beat the Jayhawks 79-76 in their sole game of the week and have been high on my list all year. They play with joy and they play together.
So far this season, Iowa State has also defeated Marquette and Indiana, both by double digits. Its 74-69 defeat of Iowa in the annual Cy-Hawk Rivalry game Dec. 10, — after which Crooks dedicated her 30-point, 10-rebound performance to her late father and Fennelly’s late father — cemented the Cyclones’ status as a top-10 team. And it may even bring a tear to your eye.
Time will tell if the Cyclones or the red-hot TCU Horned Frogs will win the Big 12. But for now, I’ve been giving Iowa State the edge due to Crooks’ superstardom.
Crooks is joined in double-figure scoring by forward Addy Brown — a balanced, confident player averaging 14.6 points on an efficient, 53.9% shooting, plus 9.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game — and Arizona transfer guard Jada Williams, who adds 10.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 7.5 assists per contest.
Caroline Makauskas’ Top 25 ballot: No. 1 Connecticut, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 South Carolina, No. 5 LSU, No. 6 Michigan, No. 7 Oklahoma, No. 8 Maryland, No. 9 Iowa State, No. 10 TCU, No. 11 Vanderbilt, No. 12 Iowa, No. 13 Southern California, No. 14 Ohio State, No. 15 Notre Dame, No. 16 Kentucky, No. 17 Nebraska, No. 18 Louisville, No. 19 North Carolina, No. 20 Ole Miss, No. 21 Texas Tech, No. 22 Princeton, No. 23 Stanford, No. 24 Washington, No. 25 Baylor.
