STI/Hoopfeed Poll for 2/18/20: Top three remain steady as others falter; Princeton enters at No. 25
South Carolina and Baylor dominate, Oregon and Stanford have successful road trips
Close calls, upsets, and jaw-dropping buzzer beaters typified another exciting week in women’s basketball. However, one thing remained constant: South Carolina as the No. 1 team. In this week’s Sport Tours International/Hoopfeed Top 25 Poll, the Gamecocks followed their victory over UConn last Monday by knocking off Auburn and Vanderbilt.
Baylor and Oregon remained in the next two spots. With dominating wins over TCU and Oklahoma State, No. 2 Baylor continued to bulldoze through the Big 12. No. 3 Oregon beat UCLA and USC on a road trip to Los Angeles with senior guard Sabrina Ionescu adding another milestone to her long list of accomplishments. She became only the second player in NCAA history to have 2,000-plus points and 1,000-plus assists, joining former Gonzaga standout Courtney Vandersloot, on that hallowed list.
No. 4 Stanford regained ground in the poll, rising four spots after defeating Utah and Colorado on the road. The win on Sunday in Boulder, Colorado came courtesy of a 40-foot shot from Stanford junior guard Kiana Williams. The amazing heave shot followed a 3-pointer she made to tie the game with 12 seconds left in regulation.
Louisville also moved up four spots rounding out the top five. The Cardinals started with a bang, knocking off last week’s No. 4 team, North Carolina State, 66-59, Thursday night. Louisville continued its good fortune with an 82-49 rout of Notre Dame on Sunday. After the loss, NC State fell out of the top ten, falling seven places to No. 11.
Other teams that saw a spate of bad luck included Mississippi State, dropping five places to No. 9 after a loss to this week’s No. 14, Kentucky. No. 17 Florida State fell three places after losing to unranked Duke on Sunday. No. 18 Oregon State tumbled seven spots after a winless Los Angeles trip, losing to both USC and UCLA over the weekend. Indiana sunk three places to No. 19 after losing to unranked Ohio State on Sunday.
The Ivy League’s No. 1 team Princeton had a good week. The 19-1 Tigers are undefeated in conference play and took down Yale and Brown over the weekend.
- Other teams that received votes: TCU, FGCU, LSU, Old Dominion, Tennessee.
- Dropped out: Tennessee
| Rank | School | Record | Last | Change |
| 1 | South Carolina | 25-1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Baylor | 23-1 | 2 | 0 |
| 3 | Oregon | 24-2 | 3 | 0 |
| 4 | Stanford | 23-3 | 8 | 4 |
| 5 | Louisville | 23-3 | 9 | 4 |
| 6 | UCLA | 22-3 | 6 | 0 |
| 7 | UConn | 21-3 | 7 | 0 |
| 8 | Maryland | 22-4 | 10 | 2 |
| 9 | Mississippi State | 22-4 | 5 | -4 |
| 10 | Arizona | 21-4 | 12 | 2 |
| 11 | NC State | 22-3 | 4 | -7 |
| 12 | DePaul | 24-3 | 13 | 1 |
| 13 | Gonzaga | 25-2 | 15 | 2 |
| 14 | Kentucky | 19-5 | 19 | 5 |
| 15 | Texas A&M | 20-5 | 18 | 3 |
| 16 | Northwestern | 22-3 | 17 | 1 |
| 17 | Florida State | 20-5 | 14 | -3 |
| 18 | Oregon State | 19-7 | 11 | -7 |
| 19 | Iowa | 21-5 | 16 | -3 |
| 20 | South Dakota | 24-2 | 21 | 1 |
| 21 | Arizona State | 18-8 | 22 | 1 |
| 22 | Missouri State | 21-3 | 23 | 1 |
| 23 | Arkansas | 20-5 | 24 | 1 |
| 24 | Indiana | 20-7 | 20 | -4 |
| 25 | Princeton | 19-1 | NR | N/A |
The STI/Hoopfeed Poll is conducted weekly throughout the regular season using a panel of media members and other women’s basketball professionals.
This week’s AP Poll || USA Today Coaches Poll
Voting Panel
- Mel Greenberg
- Joan Bonvicini
- Prentice Beverly
- Brenda VanLengen
- Charles Hallman
- Rhiannon Potkey
- Kristopher Gardner
- Jacob Mox (for Her Hoop Stats)
- Cindy Brunson
- Kevin Danna
- Ben Parker
- Viet Nguyen
- Michael Roberson
- Lisa Bodine
- LaChina Robinson
- Cheryl Coward
