After Friday’s 92-86 victory vs. Northern Iowa (5-6) from Carver-Hawkeye Arena, the Iowa women’s basketball team (10-2, 0-1 Big Ten) dropped slightly to No. 24 in the AP Top 25 Women’s College Basketball Poll for Week 8.
While the Hawkeyes defeated the Panthers, who were powered by a 30-point performance by star guard Maya McDermott, the six-point win was unable to provide Iowa with much leverage to remain at their previously-held No. 22 position entering the holiday break.
Iowa will look to boost its resume when the team returns from the holiday break on Dec. 29 vs. Purdue (7-5, 0-1 Big Ten) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena at 2 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network Plus.
The Big Ten remains well represented in the latest top 25. UCLA is still atop the poll as the No. 1 team in the nation. Following the Bruins are No. 8 Maryland, No. 10 Ohio State, No. 19 Michigan State, and No. 23 Michigan.
The lone Big Ten program to drop out of the top 25 was Nebraska, following their 72-61 loss to then-No. 17 Georgia Tech. The Cornhuskers now join Illinois as the two conference members in the receiving votes category of this week’s poll.
Below is a look at the full AP Top 25 Women’s College Basketball Poll for Week 8.
| Rank | Team | Record | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UCLA | 12-0 | 798 (30) |
| 2 | South Carolina | 11-1 | 764 (1) |
| 3 | Notre Dame | 10-2 | 727 (1) |
| 4 | USC | 11-1 | 688 |
| 5 | Texas | 12-1 | 641 |
| 6 | LSU | 14-0 | 636 |
| 7 | UConn | 10-2 | 611 |
| 8 | Maryland | 11-0 | 602 |
| 9 | Oklahoma | 11-1 | 535 |
| 10 | Ohio State | 12-0 | 505 |
| 11 | TCU | 12-1 | 478 |
| 12 | Kansas State | 13-1 | 457 |
| 13 | Georgia Tech | 13-0 | 382 |
| 14 | Duke | 10-3 | 368 |
| 15 | Tennessee | 11-0 | 323 |
| 16 | Kentucky | 10-1 | 322 |
| 17 | North Carolina | 12-2 | 288 |
| 18 | West Virginia | 10-2 | 224 |
| 19 | Michigan State | 11-1 | 203 |
| 20 | Alabama | 12-1 | 165 |
| 21 | California | 13-1 | 153 |
| 22 | North Carolina State | 9-3 | 147 |
| 23 | Michigan | 10-2 | 122 |
| 24 | Iowa | 10-2 | 114 |
| 25 | Ole Miss | 8-3 | 64 |
Others receiving votes:
Nebraska 26, Vanderbilt 19, Utah 18, Illinois 8, Oklahoma State 7, Harvard 3, Baylor 1, Florida State 1.
Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions.
Follow Scout on X: @SpringgateNews