Women’s Basketball AP Poll: 3 takeaways from the first week of action

It’s a week into the 2024-25 NCAA women’s basketball season and the favorites are going all out while the stars are battling against both the elite and lackluster competition. Paige Bueckers and JuJu Watkins led their top-five teams to 2-0 starts. Highly recruited freshmen Sarah Strong and Joyce Edwards took over the starting positions for title favorites UConn and South Carolina, respectively. And some teams came into the spotlight as teams pulled surprises in a preseason poll filled with speculation in the transfer portal era.

Here are three takeaways from the first week.

UConn’s health is a sight to behold

What a sight it was to see Geno Auriemma bench all of his starters in Storrs as UConn earned an 86-32 season-opening win over Boston University. All 10 available players again played significant minutes in Sunday’s 86-49 win over South Florida.

Nobody’s taken a breather yet – it’s a long season – but it’s refreshing to see a fuller bench for the Huskies. There were times last year when Auriemma had to train with seven available players, which exhausted everyone. Entering the season, five of the 10 players had never played in the program before, and for some of them the reason was their redshirt season. Junior Azzi Fudd has still not taken the field after rehabilitating a knee injury, but took part in pre-match warm-ups on Sunday. Aubrey Griffin, Caroline Ducharme and Ayanna Patterson have also not returned yet.

The youth are already showing how dangerous UConn can be. Redshirt freshman forward Jana El Alfy (knee) performed well in her long-awaited debut (17 points in 18 minutes). No. 1 recruit Sarah Strong started both games and debuted with 17 points and six steals. Strong is averaging 15 points per game, trailing Paige Bueckers’ team-high of 17.5.

Their biggest hurdle early in the season, aside from staying healthy, was what plagued the group at times last year. They can’t watch Bueckers take over games like they did in the beginning against South Florida. Part of that is developing the chemistry of a group that, for the most part, never plays together.

South Carolina shows depth early

NC State head coach Wes Moore dropped the statement “They are who we thought they were” after his No. 9-ranked Wolf Pack lost 71-57 to South Carolina in Ally Tipoff on Sunday. And he is absolutely right. The Gamecocks were one of the top-performing teams in the country en route to the national championship, and it remains their most promising lead to repeat.

It didn’t matter that the Gamecocks were without junior forward Ashlyn Watkins in a win against a tough Michigan team in the Hall of Fame Series, then without junior forward Chloe Kitts against then-No. 9 NC State. South Carolina extended its winning streak to 40 and joins UConn as the only programs with multiple winning streaks of at least 40. Watkins returned in the second game and Kitts (for academic reasons) is expected to play Thursday.

It didn’t matter that the entire starting team didn’t contribute any goalscorers in any of the games. Head coach Dawn Staley can still play with matchups and send waves of rookie-level players. Kitts was the only starter in double figures with 19 points and 14 rebounds against Michigan, while sophomore Tessa Johnson came off the bench with 15 points and three three-pointers. Te-Hina Paopao led NC State with 23 points, while again no other starter scored in double figures. MiLayshia Fulwiley backed them up with 18 points in 18 minutes.

Staley said during the preseason that people would soon know and recognize the name of Joyce Edwards, the No. 3 recruit in the Class of 2024. The 6-foot-10 forward is a South Carolina native who grew up playing A’ yes, watching Wilson as Gamecock. She approached a double-double in her debut and made it into the starting lineup in the second game after Kitts was sidelined and Watkins appeared just days after resuming basketball activities. Their development will be crucial to compete against bigger forecourts.

Syla Swords smashes the awards show

It’s far too early to fairly determine the frontrunners in an awards race, but Michigan freshman Syla Swords has already confirmed she’ll be in the conversation. The 6-foot-1, 18-year-old guard chose Michigan as the No. 4 recruit in the class and spent her summer in Paris, where she competed in the Olympics with the Canadian national team. She is the youngest basketball player in the country’s history to compete in the Olympics. Her father, Shawn, played for Canada in the 2000 Olympics and is a coach in the NBA’s G League. Her mother also played in college.

It contributed to a confident and aggressive debut against the reigning champion Gamecocks. Swords scored 27 points (47.4% shooting) with 12 rebounds in the near upset. She followed with 20 points (53.3%), six rebounds and five assists in a win over Lehigh in the home opener.

Swords put herself and Michigan in the spotlight after being a No. 9 seed last year and exiting in the first round. The Wolverines face a slim non-conference schedule until the Fort Myers Tipoff, where they could play Virginia Tech, and then Oklahoma in the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte. They will have time to familiarize themselves with Swords before conference play. The new Big Ten, which added UCLA, USC, Washington and Oregon in a realignment, is huge (18 teams) and boasts top-notch talent (JuJu Watkins, Lauren Betts, Kiki Iriafen, Cotie McMahon).

Yahoo Sports AP Voting

1.South Carolina
2. UConn
3.Texas
4. U.S.C
5. Notre Dame
6.UCLA
7. Iowa State
8.Oklahoma
9.LSU
10. Maryland
11. Kansas State
12. North Carolina
13. Ohio State
14. West Virginia
15. Louisville
16. NC State
17th Duke
18. Ole Miss
19.Kentucky
20. Nebraska
21. Baylor
22.Iowa
23. Illinois
24.Stanford
25.Michigan

Official AP Rankings

1.South Carolina
2. UConn
3. U.S.C
4.Texas
5.UCLA
6. Notre Dame
7.LSU
8. Iowa State
9.Oklahoma
10. Kansas State
11. Maryland
12. Ohio State
13. NC State
14. North Carolina
15. West Virginia
16th Duke
17. Baylor
18. Louisville
19. Ole Miss
20. Kentucky
21.Nebraska
22. Alabama
23. Illinois
24.Oregon
25.Stanford