Welcome to the first edition of the Hoops HQ Women’s Stock Report. It’s time to take a look around Division I women’s hoops and see who’s trending in the right (and wrong) direction.
Trending up: No. 15 Kentucky
Former Virginia Tech head coach Kenny Brooks’ time in Lexington is off to a dream start, with the Wildcats 5-0 for the first time since 2020-21. UK understandably came out sluggish Monday on a quick turnaround after beating then-No. 18 Louisville in overtime, but the ‘Cats controlled the second half and pulled away from Purdue Fort Wayne for a 79-67 win. They’re led by former Hokies Clara Strack (15.8 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 3.2 blocks per game) and Georgia Amoore (15.4 ppg, 8.2 apg), and none of the top six scorers had played a game for UK before this season.
Trending down: NC State
The Wolfpack are the only team from the preseason AP top 10 (No. 9) to have lost a game yet, and they’ve lost two of them. The first loss was somewhat forgivable if not inevitable in a Final Four rematch against South Carolina. The second loss, at TCU Sunday, was a game a team with Final Four aspirations expects to win. NC State’s got Coastal Carolina at home Thursday and opens the Pink Flamingo Championship with Southern before most likely facing No. 7 LSU, with No. 17 Ole Miss in the first game after that event.
Trending up: Notre Dame guard Olivia Miles
Miles’ stock was never down, but there’s always a question if players will return at full strength after missing an entire season due to injury. She answered with a resounding yes over the four games, which included a 20-point triple-double in her return and a 20-point double-double her last time out. She’s one of just four players in D-I averaging 18 points and 6 assists through Monday (min. 3 games) and the only one in a major conference. Miles and Notre Dame will have a chance to raise their stocks further in Saturday’s star-studded showdown with No. 3 USC.
Trending down: Creighton
The Bluejays brought back seven of eight players who averaged double-digit minutes last season and earned the program’s third straight and third-ever preseason AP ranking. Since then, they’re 1-2 with losses at South Dakota State and most recently at No. 10 Kansas State while allowing 28 points to Ayoka Lee in 16 minutes. Neither loss is particularly bad, on the road against a perennial mid-major Auto Bid and a top 10 team, but the Jays are going to need good wins at some point to build an At Large resume. They’re running out of chances to get them without beating UConn.
Trending up: No. 19 TCU
The Frogs snapped a 24-game skid against the AP Top 25 in Sunday’s win over then-No. 13 NC State, their first over a ranked team since December 2021. They were rewarded Monday with their first AP Top 25 appearance of the season and their highest ranking since 2008-09 at No. 19. The star pairing of Sedona Prince (22.3 ppg, 10.0 rpg; 31 and 16 against NC State) and incoming transfer Hailey Van Lith (17.3 ppg, 8.0 apg) has paid dividends for a program that’s trying to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2010.
Trending down: Louisville
Louisville entered the season with eight true freshmen and a redshirt among 15 players on the roster, so this team was always likely to need some time. Unfortunately, it also opened the season in Paris against No. 5 UCLA, had a trip to Kentucky in game four, and hasn’t even gotten to the toughest stretch of non-conference play yet. The young Cardinals have a five-game stretch in early December that includes a road game at Colorado (which went to the Sweet 16 the last two years), No. 9 Oklahoma at home, No. 2 UConn (in Brooklyn) and No. 20 NC State.
Trending up: Oregon
Oregon didn’t receive a single vote in either the preseason AP or Coaches poll after an 11-21 season and second straight missed NCAA Tournament, and Deja Kelly wasn’t selected to either the media or coaches 10-player preseason All-Big Ten team. It’s fair to say not many had noticed the job Kelly Graves did retooling through the transfer portal, but the new-look Ducks soared into the Top 25 after beating then-No. 12 Baylor on the season’s first Sunday. Five of the top six scorers are incoming transfers, led by Kelly’s 11.6 ppg, 6.8 rpg and 4.4 apg, and the other one transferred in prior to last season.
Trending down: Top 25 Upsets
The AP Top 25 has an 83-6 record so far against unranked teams including 80 double-digit wins and a 68-1 mark at home (only loss: Indiana vs Harvard in overtime). Three of the six unranked winners are now ranked (Oregon, TCU and Illinois) and another of them started out ranked (Indiana beating Stanford). It’s not particularly abnormal for this time of year — the record was 83-8 after the third Monday of November 2022 and 84-5 last year — but the fact remains that there have been many more eye-popping halftime scores (always fun on social media!) than competitive second halves.
