Big 12 women's basketball power rankings: Houston shocks the conference

Big 12 women’s basketball power rankings: Houston shocks the conference

Posted by Admin January 17, 2025 Basketball

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There are no days off in the Big 12.

That became clear on Tuesday when Houston earned a 79-76 home win over Oklahoma State (14-3, 4-2 Big 12). It marked the first conference win of the season for the Cougars (5-12, 1-5 Big 12), and it snapped their five-game losing streak.

Let’s get into this week’s conference power rankings:

Last week: 1

This week: vs. Arizona (Thursday); vs. Arizona State (Sunday)

No. 10-ranked Kansas State (17-1, 5-0 Big 12) didn’t have any trouble earning a 92-65 road win over BYU on Saturday. The Wildcats lead the nation in scoring margin (33.2 points per game).

Last week: 2

This week: vs. Utah (Friday); at Oklahoma State (Wednesday)

No. 11 TCU (18-1, 6-0 Big 12) is on a nine-game win streak following its victories over Texas Tech and UCF. Few teams have been able to contain the duo of Sedona Prince (18.7 points per game) and Hailey Van Lith (18.3 points per game), who rank fourth and sixth in the conference in scoring, respectively.

Last week: 6

This week: vs. Houston (Friday); vs. UCLA in Newark, New Jersey (Monday)

After suffering an 84-61 home loss to OSU on Jan. 1, No. 24 Baylor (15-3, 5-1 Big 12) has won four straight games. Its most recent one, a 70-61 home win over No. 23 Utah, was the most impressive of the bunch.

Last week: 4

This week: at UCF (Saturday); vs. TCU (Wednesday)

OSU (14-3, 4-2 Big 12) secured its biggest win of the season when it beat then-No. 17 West Virginia at home Saturday, 64-57. But it then suffered its worst loss of the season when it fell to Houston on the road Tuesday, 79-76.

Last week: 3

This week: vs. Iowa State (Sunday); at Arizona State (Wednesday)

No. 20 West Virginia (14-3, 4-2 Big 12) bounced back from its loss to OSU with a 73-46 home win over Colorado on Wednesday. The Mountaineers forced 30 turnovers and converted them into 39 points.

Last week: 5

This week: at TCU (Friday); vs. Kansas (Wednesday)

No. 23 Utah (13-4, 4-2 Big 12) fell to No. 24 Baylor on the road Tuesday, 70-61. Despite being one of the most efficient teams in the conference, Utah only went 24 for 59 from the field (40.7%) and 7 for 23 from deep (30.4%).

Last week: 9

This week: at West Virginia (Sunday); vs. BYU (Wednesday)

Iowa State (13-6, 4-2 Big 12) earned convincing wins over Arizona and Texas Tech on Saturday and Tuesday, respectively. But the team is still 0-4 against Quad 1 opponents, and next up is a road game against No. 20 West Virginia.

Last week: 7

This week: at Cincinnati (Saturday)

Colorado (12-5, 3-3 Big 12) committed 30 turnovers in its 73-46 road loss to West Virginia on Wednesday. The Buffaloes have allowed the second-most turnovers per game (18.1) in the conference.

Last week: 8

This week: vs. Arizona State (Thursday); vs. Arizona (Sunday); at Utah (Wednesday)

Kansas (11-5, 1-4 Big 12) suffered an 84-76 road loss to Colorado on Saturday. The Jayhawks have allowed at least 78 points in four of their five conference games.

Last week: 11

This week: vs. Colorado (Saturday); at Arizona (Wednesday)

Cincinnati (10-5, 2-3 Big 12) escaped with a 64-58 road win over UCF on Saturday. Despite going just 20 for 59 from the field (33.9%) and 6 for 27 from deep (22.2%), the Bearcats won by going 18 for 27 from the free-throw line (66.7%).

Last week: 10

This week: at Kansas State (Thursday); at Kansas (Sunday); vs. Cincinnati (Wednesday)

Arizona (11-7, 2-3 Big 12) fell to Iowa State at home Saturday, 79-58. The Wildcats held Cyclones star Audi Crooks to a season-low 11 points, but they allowed Sydney Harris to erupt for a season-high 24 points off the bench.

Last week: 12

This week: at Kansas (Thursday); at Kansas State (Sunday); vs. West Virginia (Wednesday)

Arizona State (8-9, 2-3 Big 12) suffered a 78-59 home loss to Baylor on Saturday. But one bright spot for the Sun Devils was Jayln Brown, who scored at least 20 points (21) for fourth time in her last five outings.

Last week: 13

This week: vs. BYU (Saturday); at Houston (Wednesday)

Texas Tech (12-7, 1-5 Big 12) has lost five straight conference games, and three of those losses came against ranked opponents. It’ll try to build some momentum with BYU and Houston next on the schedule.

Last week: 14

This week: at Texas Tech (Saturday); at Iowa State (Wednesday)

BYU (10-6, 1-4 Big 12) fell to No. 10 Kansas State at home on Saturday, 92-65, but Delaney Gibb continues to impress. The freshman guard scored 18 points in the loss, and she’s averaging 16.6 points this season.

Last week: 16

This week: at Baylor (Friday); vs. Texas Tech (Wednesday)

Houston (5-12, 1-5 Big 12) delivered the biggest upset of conference play so far when it earned a 79-76 home win over OSU on Tuesday. Kierra Merchant scored a game-high 20 points for the Cougars, who led by as many as 26 points.

Last week: 15

This week: vs. Oklahoma State (Saturday)

UCF (7-9, 0-6 Big 12) suffered a 90-81 road loss to No. 11 TCU on Tuesday despite getting a 33-point performance from Kaitlin Peterson. It’s the only team that’s still winless in Big 12 play.