Following its championship run at the Gulf Coast Showcase, the Iowa Hawkeyes are back on the upward trajectory in the latest AP Top 25 Women’s College Basketball Poll.
Iowa climbed one spot to No. 4 nationally in this week’s AP Top 25 Poll. The rest of the top five includes unanimous No. 1 South Carolina, No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Stanford, and No. 5 North Carolina State.
Fellow Big Ten schools Ohio State and Indiana check in at No. 16 and No. 17, respectively.
Meanwhile, Iowa’s latest victim actually jumped up two spots as well. The Hawkeyes downed Kansas State, 77-70, in the Gulf Coast Showcase championship game, but the Wildcats leapt up to No. 14 in the country.
For Iowa, it was a long-awaited victory over the Wildcats. The Hawkeyes lost last season in Manhattan, Kan., 84-83, as a top-five team versus a K-State team that didn’t have its All-American in Ayoka Lee. Then, back on Nov. 16 inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Kansas State got Iowa again, winning, 65-58.
Iowa senior guard Caitlin Clark resembled the National Player of the Year again in the Hawkeyes’ win over the ‘Cats on Sunday night. The 6-foot guard scored 32 points and knocked down 7-of-16 3-pointers, including a pair in the game’s final two minutes that locked down the win.
During Iowa’s run in the Gulf Coast Showcase, Clark averaged 27.3 points, 6.6 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. She was named the Gulf Coast Showcase Most Valuable Player and the Big Ten Player of the Week for a 20th time.
Now, Iowa can rest a bit before returning to play this Saturday, Dec. 2 at 12:30 p.m. CT in Iowa City versus Bowling Green for Kids Day.
In the meantime, here’s a look at the full AP Top 25 Women’s College Basketball Poll for this week.
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Change |
| 1 | South Carolina | 5-0 | 900 (36) | — |
| 2 | UCLA | 6-0 | 855 | — |
| 3 | Stanford | 7-0 | 803 | +1 |
| 4 | Iowa | 7-1 | 745 | +1 |
| 5 | North Carolina State | 7-0 | 740 | +5 |
| 6 | USC | 5-0 | 643 | +2 |
| 7 | LSU | 7-1 | 625 | — |
| 7 | Colorado | 6-1 | 625 | -4 |
| 9 | Virginia Tech | 5-1 | 585 | — |
| 10 | Texas | 7-0 | 560 | +2 |
| 11 | UConn | 4-2 | 541 | -5 |
| 12 | Utah | 5-1 | 517 | -2 |
| 13 | Baylor | 5-0 | 495 | +1 |
| 14 | Kansas State | 6-1 | 413 | +2 |
| 15 | Florida State | 5-1 | 409 | -2 |
| 16 | Ohio State | 5-1 | 406 | -1 |
| 17 | Indiana | 5-1 | 372 | +4 |
| 18 | Notre Dame | 5-1 | 367 | -1 |
| 19 | Ole Miss | 6-1 | 192 | +5 |
| 20 | Tennessee | 4-2 | 186 | -1 |
| 21 | Mississippi State | 8-0 | 181 | +4 |
| 22 | Louisville | 6-1 | 155 | -2 |
| 23 | Marquette | 6-0 | 76 | — |
| 24 | North Carolina | 5-2 | 74 | -6 |
| 25 | Princeton | 4-2 | 58 | — |
Schools Dropped Out:
No. 22 Oklahoma; No. 23 Washington State
Others receiving votes: Washington State, 55; Creighton, 44; Oklahoma, 20; Penn State, 16; Florida Gulf Coast, 10; UNLV, 9; Green Bay, 6; Alabama, 6; Maryland, 3; Gonzaga, 3; Davidson, 2; BYU, 2; Miami, 1
Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions.
Follow Josh on X: @JoshOnREF
We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. Hawkeyes Wire operates independently, though, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.