Lots of action has happened the last month in Bay Area women’s college basketball, which means it is time for me to do my power rankings for February. Let’s get after it!
#1. Stanford Cardinal (+/-): The Stanford Cardinal are 20-3 overall and 9-2 in the Pac-12 and ranked #6 in the latest AP Top 25 Poll. After getting upset by USC over the weekend at home at the hands of Juju Watkins’ 51 point game, Stanford bounced back fiercely on Sunday with a dominant 80-60 victory over UCLA, who is now ranked #9 in AP Top 25.
Stanford continues to be one of the top teams in the nation with Cameron Brink (17.6 points & 11.9 rebounds) and Kiki Iriafen (18.8 points & 10.6 rebounds) forming a frightening duo in the post. They are a handful downlow and are very difficult to contain. If they keep doing what they are doing, they will be strong contenders to get a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Their two losses in league play are at Colorado and at home against USC. This upcoming weeks is a road trip to face the Washington schools before coming back home to face Cal. Stanford has an iron grip over the top spot in these rankings as nobody else in the Bay really touches them. Still, given the collection of schools that are on this list, it’s remains impressive that Stanford is so dominant among Bay Area teams. It’s just another marker of how good this program is. Oh, and in case you didn’t already know, Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer passed Coach K for most all-time wins of any college basketball coach in NCAA history. That was pretty cool to witness.
#2. Santa Clara Broncos (+1): The Santa Clara Broncos have moved up a spot in my rankings as they are currently 17-7 overall and 5-4 in the WCC. After losing a heartbreaker at St. Mary’s (67-74), they have bounced back with two double-digit road wins at Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine. This week will be key as they host San Diego and St. Mary’s, giving them a chance to get even with the Gaels.
Guard Tess Heal (17.8 points) and forward Olivia Pollerd (15.3 points) continue to lead the way for the Broncos, forming a really solid duo. If they can get a little more help from those around them, that would really help them gain some separation from other teams in the WCC and possibly make a run to win the WCC tourney. This team is dangerous and capable of making such a run.
One factor in them being ranked where they are is the fact that they actually played Cal decently tough at the very beginning of the season, losing by 15 points. That might look like a decisive game, but I think if they were to face Cal again, especially if they had the home court, they could knock off the Bears. Just looking at how they are playing as of right now, I gotta give the Broncos the number two spot right now.
#3. California Golden Bears (-1): After a strong start to the non-conference and early conference season, the California Golden Bears are now 13-10 overall and 3-8 in the Pac-12. Talk of them being a bubble team for the NCAA tournament has died down and now they are fighting for a possible WNIT bid. As a result, they have fallen one spot in my rankings.
The good news for Cal is the season isn’t over yet and they do have some quality pieces in Ioanna Krimili (16.4 points), Marta Suarez (12.4 points), and Leilani McIntosh (10.3 points). The pieces to turn this ship around are there, but they need to do so now. It’ll be interesting to see how they play when they head to The Farm to face Stanford later this month. That’ll be a good litmus test for them.
#4. Saint Mary’s Gaels (+/-): The Saint Mary’s Gaels have not changed in their ranking as they remain #4. They are now 10-12 overall and 3-5 in the WCC. The best win they have had lately was their 74-67 home victory over Santa Clara. That was nice. It’ll be interesting to see if they are able to pick up a road win at Santa Clara on Saturday.
Their problem continues to be the fact that they don’t have any explosive scorers. Guard Zeryhia Aokuso is their top scorer at 11.0 points per game. Without somebody scoring 15+ points per game, it’s just tough to be much of a threat. That said, they’ve shown they can make things tough on teams as they fell to Cal by just five points in Berkeley earlier this season. Maybe someone will step up in the coming weeks, but I just don’t see it happening.
#5. San Francisco Dons (+1): The Dons are starting to pick up a bit of steam as they are now 9-13 overall and 5-4 in the WCC. A major reason for that is the play of forward Debora dos Santos, who was named WCC Player of the Week on Monday. She averaged 22.0 points and 11.5 rebounds per game last week as San Francisco split at Pepperdine and at San Diego.
If dos Santos can keep this kind of play up, the Dons could continue to rise up the WCC standings. They have a three-game homestand coming up against St. Mary’s, Pacific, and Santa Clara. If they can hold serve there, they’ll give themselves an opportunity to rise up these rankings again come March.
#6. San Jose State (-1): Just like their men’s counterparts, the Spartans are really struggling as of late, bringing up the rear of my power rankings. They are currently 6-15 overall and 1-8 in the Mountain West, losing seven straight games.
Given it’s halfway through league play and their record is what it is, it’s tough to see the Spartans flipping the switch and making a leap. What makes matters worse is freshman Jyah LoVett, who leads the team in scoring with 14.6 points per game, has missed three straight games. If they want any hope of turning a corner, they’re going to need her back in the lineup as soon as possible.
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