Unlike its game at Tennessee three days before, the second-ranked Stanford women’s basketball team couldn’t overcome a disastrous third quarter and a hefty turnover count (20) and lost Tuesday at No. 1 South Carolina.
The 65-61 loss leaves the defending national champion Cardinal with three defeats entering Pac-12 play, which begins Dec. 28 for UCLA and USC and Dec. 31 for everyone else.
Two teams, Arizona and Colorado, made it through the non-conference unbeaten while everyone in the conference is at least two games above .500. Only Stanford — which played a brutally-tough nonconference schedule — and No. 4 Arizona are ranked in the two national polls with Colorado closest to the Top 25 among others receiving votes.
Here are the Hotline’s second women’s basketball power ratings:
NET rankings are through Monday. (The NCAA Evaluation Tool rankings are used by the selection committee to determine the seeds and at-large bids.)
1. Stanford (8-3)
Last week: 1
Results: beat UC Davis 68-42 and Tennessee 74-63, lost at South Carolina 65-61
Next up: at Washington (Dec. 31)
NET ranking: No. 7 (change from last week: none)
Comment: Stanford led by 18 over South Carolina in the second quarter only to be outscored 22-7 in the third quarter. The Gamecocks led by one when Cameron Brink missed a 15-foot turnaround with 17 seconds left, then added two free throws to somewhat avenge a 66-65 loss to the Cardinal in the Final Four last spring.
2. Arizona (10-0)
Last week: 2
Results: beat Northern Arizona 82-55, vs. Texas (canceled)
Next up: at USC (Dec. 31)
NET ranking: No. 8 (change: none)
Comment: Because of the Texas cancellation, the Wildcats will have two weeks between games going into their Pac-12 opener on the road. (Not ideal.) UA’s strength of schedule (No. 77) is improving but still far behind Stanford (No. 5).
3. Colorado (11-0)
Last week: 5
Results: beat SMU 78-55 and San Francisco 80-56
Next up: at Oregon State (Dec. 31)
NET ranking: No. 35 (change: +4)
Comment: Wins eventually outweigh skepticism about CU’s strength of schedule (No. 239, lowest in the Pac-12), at least for now. There are only seven undefeated Division I teams remaining, and the Buffs deserve props for being one of them.
4. Utah (8-3)
Last week: 6
Results: beat Utah Valley 65-57, lost to Oklahoma 83-76
Next up: at Oregon (Dec. 31)
NET ranking: No. 21 (change: -5)
Comment: The Utes would be one place higher if they had finished the job Tuesday when they led the Sooners 62-51 after three quarters. But Oklahoma (10-1) dominated the fourth, and Utah is left with defensive questions going forward.
5. Oregon (6-4)
Last week: 3
Results: lost to Kansas State 68-56, vs. Northwestern (canceled)
Next up: vs. Utah (Dec. 31)
NET ranking: No. 15 (change: none)
Comment: Even in a road loss, the Ducks had some good news with the return of Endyia Rogers and Nyara Sabally. Rogers, a transfer guard from USC, had 14 points, five rebounds and five assists in 30 minutes in her Oregon debut.
6. Oregon State (7-3)
Last week: 8
Results: beat Idaho 79-49 and Northern Iowa 70-59
Next up: vs. North Carolina Central (Dec. 28)
NET ranking: No. 64 (change: +25)
Comment: The Beavers won twice at the Maui Classic, regaining some momentum after a loss to Villanova. They have a nonconference game remaining before their Pac-12 opener against Colorado.
7. Arizona State (7-5)
Last week: 9
Results: beat San Diego 79-60 and UC Irvine 69-52
Next up: at UCLA (Dec. 31)
NET ranking: No. 41 (change: +13)
Comment: The Sun Devils are flying under the radar because of their five losses, but their strength of schedule (No. 41) is third-best in the conference. More importantly, they seem to be figuring how to maintain their defensive identity while still developing offensively.
8. UCLA (5-3)
Last week: 7
Results: Texas Southern, Ohio State, Cal State Bakersfield canceled
Next up: vs. USC (Dec. 28)
NET ranking: No. 60 (change: +1)
Comment: The Bruins were hardest hit by COVID protocol, losing three home games (including a date with No. 24 Ohio State) and not being able to build off a competitive loss to No. 11 UConn. It will be 17 days between games — only to then face three Pac-12 games in six days.
9. Washington State (8-3)
Last week: 4
Results: lost at Brigham Young 71-53 and Stony Brook 69-62
Next up: vs. Cal (Dec. 31)
NET ranking: No. 73 (change: -13)
Comment: A five-place drop in the power ratings after road losses to quality mid-majors (BYU is ranked No. 19) on consecutive days with lengthy travel in between is a steep price. But there are going to be weeks like that in the Pac-12 jumble.
10. Cal (9-2)
Last week: 11
Results: beat Cal Poly 89-73 and Saint Mary’s 77-55
Next up: at Washington State (Dec. 31)
NET ranking: No. 101 (change: -14)
Comment: The Bears’ NET ranking took a hit despite two comfortable wins and their strength of schedule (No. 226) went down, too. But Jayda Curry won her fourth Pac-12 Freshman of the Week award in the first six weeks of the season and leads all freshmen nationally in scoring (20.3 ppg).
11. USC (7-3)
Last week: 12
Results: beat Cal State Northridge 76-51 and Texas Southern 77-45, vs. Long Beach State (canceled)
Next up: at UCLA (Dec. 28)
NET ranking: No. 70 (change: +11)
Comment: The Long Beach State cancellation Tuesday hurts because The Beach has a higher NET ranking (No. 48) and just one loss (to Oregon). The Trojans, like UCLA, face a Pac-12 opening grind of three games in six days.
12. Washington (5-3)
Last week: 10
Results: beat Eastern Washington 62-59 and Nevada 58-42
Next up: vs. Stanford (Dec. 31)
NET ranking: No. 105 (change: -31)
Comment: A narrow win over lowly Eastern Washington (No. 306 NET) did nothing good for the Huskies’ computer metrics, even given their second win over Nevada. And now Washington has to face Stanford coming off a loss.
