Iowa is a fixture toward the top of the national rankings. Winners of 10 straight, the Hawkeyes once again find themselves ranked No. 3 in the latest USA TODAY Sports women’s basketball coaches poll.
Iowa garnered 717 points this week as compared to 712 points last wek.
After tumbling to a season-low ranking of No. 6 following their 65-58 Nov. 16 loss to Kansas State, Iowa has found itself ranked No. 3 nationally each of the past five weeks.
The top four remains unchanged this week. Unbeaten South Carolina is the nation’s unanimous No. 1, undefeated UCLA is No. 2, Iowa is No. 3 and unblemished North Carolina State is No. 4.
Then, LSU climbed one spot to No. 5. USC dropped one spot to No. 6 after the Trojans suffered their first loss of the season inside Pauley Pavilion against UCLA, 71-64, on Dec. 30.
The rest of the top 10 is comprised of No. 7 Colorado, No. 8 Stanford, No. 9 Baylor and No. 10 Texas.
K-State made the biggest climb this week, jumping four spots to No. 12. Meanwhile, Notre Dame and Ohio State both saw the largest drops, falling five spots to No. 17 and No. 18, respectively.
Last week, senior guard Caitlin Clark made history as she scored 35 points in Iowa’s 94-71 win over Minnesota to move into the No. 5 place on the all-time women’s college basketball scoring charts. She leapt past Drake great Lorri Bauman and Mississippi Valley State standout Patricia Hoskins.
The 6-foot native of West Des Moines also overtook Hawkeye legend Sam Logic for No. 1 on Iowa’s all-time assists list with a second-quarter helper to redshirt junior guard Kylie Feuerbach. Then, she went ahead and passed Ohio State great Samantha Prahalis for the Big Ten’s all-time assists record.
Clark finished with 10 assists and five rebounds against the Golden Gophers and her eight made 3-pointers were one off her career-best.
Here’s a look at the full USA TODAY Sports women’s basketball coaches poll:
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Change |
| 1 | South Carolina | 12-0 | 800 (32) | — |
| 2 | UCLA | 12-0 | 768 | — |
| 3 | Iowa | 13-1 | 717 | — |
| 4 | North Carolina State | 13-0 | 713 | — |
| 5 | LSU | 13-1 | 626 | +1 |
| 6 | USC | 10-1 | 611 | -1 |
| 7 | Colorado | 11-1 | 608 | +1 |
| 8 | Stanford | 12-1 | 578 | +1 |
| 9 | Baylor | 12-0 | 571 | +2 |
| 10 | Texas | 13-1 | 488 | -3 |
| 11 | Virginia Tech | 10-2 | 442 | +3 |
| 12 | Utah | 10-3 | 414 | -2 |
| 12 | Kansas State | 13-1 | 414 | +4 |
| 14 | Indiana | 11-1 | 408 | +1 |
| 15 | UConn | 10-3 | 368 | +2 |
| 16 | Louisville | 12-2 | 289 | +3 |
| 17 | Notre Dame | 9-2 | 288 | -5 |
| 18 | Ohio State | 10-3 | 258 | -5 |
| 19 | Gonzaga | 13-2 | 218 | +1 |
| 20 | Marquette | 12-1 | 198 | -2 |
| 21 | Creighton | 10-2 | 157 | — |
| 22 | Florida State | 11-3 | 128 | — |
| 23 | TCU | 14-0 | 95 | +2 |
| 24 | Washington | 11-1 | 74 | — |
| 25 | West Virginia | 12-0 | 45 | +2 |
Schools Dropped Out:
No. 23 Miami (Fla.)
Others receiving votes: Syracuse, 42; Miami (Fla.), 39; Michigan, 10; North Carolina, 9; UNLV, 5; Princeton, 4; Oregon State, 4; Vanderbilt, 3; Seton Hall, 3; Davidson, 3; Saint Joseph’s, 2.
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