Women’s basketball rankings: No. 1 is unchanged, but injuries raise questions as conference tournaments approach

Can LSU, North Carolina, Kansas State and Tennessee hold onto their top 16 projections while weathering key injuries?

It was a wild week in women’s college basketball and the latest AP Top 25 Poll reflects that. While the Texas Longhorns remained No. 1, USC elevated to No. 2, and Duke jumped up five spots to No. 11 as the week’s biggest riser after defeating North Carolina and Florida State.

Since the release of last week’s Associated Press Top 25 Poll, 13 ranked teams lost games. The results have shaken up the poll, will surely lead to some rearranging when the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee goes back to the drawing board, and has raised some questions entering this week as conference tournaments begin.

More than the losses though are the injuries that are concerning for a few teams.

Let’s take a look at the full AP Top 25 Poll before we dive into those:

1. Texas
2. USC
3. UConn
4. UCLA
5. South Carolina
6. Notre Dame
7. N.C. State
8. TCU
9. LSU
10. Oklahoma
11. Duke
12. Kentucky
13. Ohio State
14. North Carolina
15. Maryland
16. West Virginia
17. Baylor
18. Tennessee
19. Alabama
20. Kansas State
21. Oklahoma State
22. Florida State
23. Creighton
24. Michigan State
25. South Dakota State

Others receiving votes:

Louisville 40, Richmond 21, Mississippi 15, Utah 6, James Madison 5, Iowa 3, Fairfield 2, California 2, Georgia Tech 1

Let’s take the four AP Top 25 teams that each lost two games last week: LSU, North Carolina, Tennessee and Kansas State. And let’s begin with Kim Mulkey’s Tigers.

Flau’Jae Johnson played in LSU’s surprising loss at Alabama on Thursday, but not all that well, tallying just six points on 2-of-12 shooting to go along with three turnovers in 38 minutes of action. And then she didn’t play at all in the Tigers’ home loss on Sunday to Ole Miss, where Mikaylah Williams and Aneesah Morrow combined for 53 points, 15 rebounds and six assists, but LSU still fell anyways. Before that game, Johnson – who leads LSU in scoring with 18.9 points per game – was wearing a padded walking boot on her right foot.

After the game, Mulkey said it was her decision to sit the junior guard, not Johnson’s call or the team doctor’s, and that she’s keeping Johnson sidelined for the SEC Tournament.

In explaining her decision, Mulkey said that with the No. 3 seed in the SEC Tournament wrapped up and since LSU “has earned the right to host” NCAA Tournament games at home, now was the time to give Johnson some rest and let her recover from her shin inflammation.

Mulkey and North Carolina coach Courtney Banghart do not have a lot in common, but they might be aligned in their thinking on not pushing star players with not a whole lot to play for in the final games of the regular season. The Tar Heels played without starters Alyssa Ustby and Reniya Kelly on Thursday and Sunday and took losses on the road at Duke and then at home to Virginia. Following those losses, UNC fell six spots in the latest poll.

After losing to rival Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium, Banghart described Kelly “minute-to-minute” while saying Ustby – who has now missed four straight games – will “be back too.”

“It’s a long season. It’s a really physical game. Obviously we’ve put a lot of miles on those kids. And you just want to make sure you don’t put them in a position where they’re going when they’re not ready,” Banghart said. “If this was an NCAA tournament game, it might be a little bit different. But we’ve got some more season left and we want to make sure we’re at our best when we need to be.”

The losses to Duke and Virginia could be costly to the Tar Heels though. Just before tip-off on Thursday night, they were 10th in the selection committee’s top 16 reveal. Two consecutive losses – and one to a not-very-good Virginia team at home – could jeopardize their chances of hosting. UNC now limps into the ACC Tournament as the fifth overall seed with the statuses of two of its most important players clouded in uncertainty. Ustby leads UNC in rebounding and assists this season, while Kelly averages double figures in scoring.

On Sunday, Banghart said that Ustby and Kelly were “now practicing a bit” and “getting closer.” She then declaratively added, “they’ll be playing in the NCAA Tournament.”

Further down the top 16 reveal, Tennessee – which checked in on Thursday at No. 12 – lost to Kentucky and then Georgia. In that loss to the Bulldogs, Talaysia Cooper – who leads the Lady Vols in scoring with 16.7 points per game – had to be helped off the floor by two staff members after rolling her ankle.

Cooper’s status seems to be unclear heading into the SEC Tournament, where Tennessee will have a long road as the No. 9 seed. Tennessee was the biggest faller in the AP Poll this week, dropping seven spots.

And in the Big 12, Kansas State – which fell six spots in the poll – lost to Baylor and Iowa State as starting center Ayoka Lee is sidelined yet again with a foot injury. According to the Topeka Capital-Journal, Lee had a “minor procedure” done to her foot but is expected back by the time the NCAA Tournament begins. To ensure that the Wildcats start their March Madness run in Manhattan, they likely need to win a game or two in the Big 12 Tournament.