The week was a positive one for Duke, which picked up a pair of ACC victories with dominating performances against both North Carolina and Pittsburgh. The Blue Devils won the two games by a combined margin of 38 points thanks to a pair of strong performances by sophomore Azurá Stevens during the stretch. The team also saw forward Amber Henson emerge during the 71-55 victory against the Tar Heels, as the graduate student picked up a career-best 16 rebounds in what could be her final Tobacco Road matchup at home. Duke will look to add to its four-game winning streak Monday, when the team will try and upset No. 3 Notre Dame followed by another tough task Sunday when they travel to South Florida to take on No. 16 Miami.
The rest of the college basketball world was action-packed, with plenty of records shattered and new benchmarks set. No. 1 Connecticut extended its winning streak to 56 games with a victory against Tulsa, during which Breanna Stewart notched her 1,000th career rebound for the Huskies. At the other end of the rankings, now-No. 24 Washington found itself ranked for the first time in 13 years heading into Wednesday’s battle against now-No. 15 Stanford, but the Huskies fell to the Cardinal 69-53.
In the SEC, No. 2 South Carolina continued their perfect season with wins against conference foes Ole Miss and No. 11 Mississippi State. Despite losing to the Gamecocks, the Bulldogs made noise this week as they defeated No. 19 Tennessee for the first time in school history with a thrilling 65-63 overtime win. After also falling 64-63 to then-No. 12 Kentucky earlier in the week, the Lady Volunteers beat Alabama and avoided becoming unranked for the first time since 1985, staying at No. 23 in this week's poll.
No. 6 Texas earned its 1,000th win in program history, taking down rival Kansas by a 70-46 decision. In another Big 12 matchup, No. 20 Oklahoma outlasted then-No. 24 West Virginia at home to move to 14-5 on the season, while No. 4 Baylor extended its winning streak to seven by coming away with a 69-43 victory against Texas Tech.
The ACC was full of action this week as well, with the Fighting Irish notching victories against Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech to move to 8-0 in conference play this season. No. 13 Louisville also had an impressive showing this week by beating Syracuse and Clemson by a combined 60 points to remain perfect in ACC play. In the week’s only test that included two ranked ACC teams, newly-minted No. 10 Florida State defeated the then-No. 17 Hurricanes in Coral Gables, Fla., to solidify its third place position in the conference standings.
ACC Game to Watch: No. 3 Notre Dame at Duke, Monday, Feb. 1, 6 p.m.
Rivals in Rank: No. 8 Arizona State at No. 9 Oregon State, Monday, Feb. 1, 11 p.m.
Upset Alert: No. 10 Texas A&M at Florida, Thursday, Feb. 4, 7 p.m.
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