SPOKANE, Wash. – The Washington State Cougars women’s basketball team knocked off UCLA, the then No. 2 ranked team in the country last week, but remains outside of the AP Top 25 poll. And the Gonzaga Bulldogs remained undefeated in West Coast Conference play and picked up wins No. 19 and 20 but dropped two spots from No. 17 to No. 19 in the AP poll.
The Zags are one of just two teams who have 20 wins on their record this year, behind only No. 2 Kansas State (20-1), but were punished by dropping two spots to No. 19. Last week, the Bulldogs outscored their opponents 155-99 with an 82-55 win over Santa Clara and a 73-54 win over San Francisco, both on the road. The Broncos have a NET ranking of 82, and the Dons rank 165.
This week, GU will play at San Diego and host Pacific, two teams that will likely not help them move up in the poll even if they win both. San Diego has a NET ranking of 238 and Pacific at 136.
Gonzaga and the Toreros tip-off at 6 p.m. on Thursday on ESPN+.
Washington State
The Washington State Cougars had two very difficult road games last week. The Cougs fell to No. 11 USC by just eight points and knocked off No. 2 UCLA 85-82. But the close loss and big win didn’t earn WSU enough votes to land in the top 25. UCLA dropped to No. 7, and USC dropped to No. 15 after their win over WSU and a loss to Washington.
Wazzu received 15 votes, which is the second-most votes received by any team, behind only UNLV, who had 21 votes. If the poll was extended, WSU would come in at No. 27, according to the voters.
Washington State was last ranked in the poll during week five, when they were the No. 21-ranked team in the country.
This week, WSU’s schedule doesn’t get any easier as they return to Pullman to host No. 6-ranked Colorado on Friday at 7 p.m. and No. 20-ranked Utah on Sunday. A sweep of these two ranked teams would almost certainly land the Cougs in the top 25.
For the full AP Top 25, click here.
