Sports
Women's college basketball power rankings: South Carolina rides historic start to No. 1, LSU out of top five – CBS Sports
Play Now
Football Pick’em
Play Now
College Pick’em
Dominate your league!
A Daily SportsLine Betting Podcast
The 2023-24 women’s college basketball season is just over a week old, but it’s clear the field is going to be wide open. While nobody knows what’s going to happen in March, November has already given us plenty of surprises.
LSU and UConn have already suffered their first losses of the season, but Dawn Staley is reminding everyone that South Carolina is still very much on the map. Staley’s progran won the 2022 national title, and even after losing several key players to the WNBA, the Gamecocks are still as talented as ever.
Iowa star Caitlin Clark, last year’s national player of the year, has wasted no time in breaking records. But while she is shining, freshmen such as USC’s JuJu Watkins are making a name for themselves as well.
UCLA is a deep team that has benefited from returning players getting more experience and the addition of Stanford transfer Lauren Betts. The Pac-12 is a tough conference, and the programs in it have already demanded respect. Colorado was responsible for upsetting LSU, and Tara VanDerveer’s Stanford Cardinal were all business while picking up a double-digit win over a tough Indiana team.
Here are our first power rankings of the 2023-24 women’s college basketball season:
The Gamecocks lost five players to the 2023 WNBA Draft, but this hardly looks like a rebuilding year in Columbia: Dawn Staley’s team scored 100-plus points in a pair of dominant wins against then top-15 teams Notre Dame and Maryland. On paper, this team seemed to lack experience, but the Gamecocks showed they are actually scary deep, from senior center Kamilla Cardoso to freshman rising star MiLaysia Fulwiley.
The season just started, and Caitlin Clark already broke Iowa’s all-time scoring record and registered her 12th career triple-double. The Hawkeyes were a bit shaky against Virginia Tech on Nov. 9, but they still got the job done with an 80-76 victory despite some shooting struggles. Clark is dominating statistically, but the team has other players who shouldn’t be overlooked. Hannah Stuelke, the 2023 Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year, seems to be embracing a bigger role in the offense. Meanwhile, Gabbie Marshall is still playing her part as the team’s defense specialist.
UCLA is going to be a difficult opponent for anyone because truly any player could shine on a given night. Five Bruins who appeared in the first three games are averaging at least 12 points per game, with sophomores Lauren Betts, Londynn Jones and Gabriela Jaquez each averaging 18.7 points. Betts, a transfer from Stanford, is also putting up 11 rebounds per contest. Kiki Rice is one of the top-five players in the nation in assists with eight dimes per game. The team has proven to be solid even with Angela Dugalic and Emily Bessoir having only played one game so far after appearing in the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers.
Tara VanDerveer’s squad showed they are doing just fine with a 96-64 win over Indiana. Cameron Brink is as dominant as ever, and she recently registered her 300th career block. However, junior forward Kiki Iriafen is also one to keep an eye on because she might be having a breakout season. Iriafen is leading her team with 21.5 points per game on 73.1% shooting after registering the first two 20-point games of her career, and she’s also contributing 12 rebounds per contest. Those efforts didn’t go overlooked as Iriafen was named an Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.
Colorado made the Sweet 16 for the first time in 10 years a season ago, and the team’s returners have kept that energy going. The Buffaloes upset the reigning national champion LSU 92-78 in the first game of the 2023-24 season. Frida Formann drained a school-record seven 3-pointers in the win while registering a career-high 27 points. Aaronette Vonleh and Jaylyn Sherrod added 24 and 19 points, respectively. Colorado proved taking down LSU was not a fluke, as the team also got the job done with an 86-75 win over Oklahoma State.
The Tigers have all the talent they need to repeat as national champions, but this team is still ironing out some kinks and needs to adjust to having a target on its back every night. LSU’s non-conference schedule is not as strong as other top teams, and the loss to Colorado certainly hurt. However, Kim Mulkey’s group is still very deep, and it has responded to the season-opening loss by winning the next three games and scoring at least 109 points in each of those victories. There are plenty of players to keep an eye on for LSU, and one of the main ones is freshman Mikaylah Williams, who has averaged 22 points in her first four games while going 12-of-19 from beyond the arc.
The Hokies gave Iowa a tough battle in their 80-76 loss thanks to a stellar performance by senior guard Georgia Amoore, who scored a career-high 31 points while draining a career-best seven 3-pointers. She is currently leading the team with 22.5 points per game, while grad student center Elizabeth Kitley is averaging a double-double of 21.5 points and 13.5 rebounds. After the Iowa game, Kitley became the program’s all-time leader in double-figure scoring games with 99.
The Huskies took care of business against Dayton with a 102-58 win, but later fell to a then-unranked NC State team, 92-81. The Wolfpack deserves some credit — particularly junior guard Saniya Rivers, who had a career-best performance — but UConn clearly is still figuring out how to play as a unit now that the roster is largely healthy. The Huskies didn’t move the ball well against NC State and the defense fell apart. Not even a 27-point performance by Paige Bueckers was able to save them. Things could’ve been much worse and UConn still has a very talented roster, so it’s still too early to freak out. The Huskies have have some big tests coming up, though, so they don’t have much time to figure things out.
USC had a breakout season last year, and Lindsay Gottlieb’s squad is not slowing down in 2023-24. The Trojans proved themselves by winning their season opener against then-No. 7 Ohio State, 83-74, behind a 32-point debut by freshman JuJu Watkins. The No. 1 recruit of the 2023 class, Watkins wasted no time setting a new scoring high, as she registered 35 points against Le Moyne in the Trojans’ 93-42 win on Tuesday. Unsurprisingly, Watkins was named the USBWA Tamika Catchings Freshman of the Week.
The Longhorns have blown out all their opponents so far with five players averaging double figures. They still haven’t played a ranked opponent, but the immense talent and depth of the roster is already becoming evident. Senior forward Taylor Jones leads Texas with 17.7 points and eight rebounds per game. Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year Rori Harmon is averaging 14 points, 4.7 rebounds and seven assists per contest, while collecting a total of 11 steals in three games.
First five out: Mississippi State, Kansas State, Marquette, Illinois, UNLV
© 2004-2023 CBS Interactive. All Rights Reserved.
CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc. Commissioner.com is a registered trademark of CBS Interactive Inc.
Images by Getty Images and US Presswire