ESPN Done Deal: Sooners Head Coach Acquired 27Years Old’ That Rate About 235>Million

We started 2024 with seven undefeated teams remaining in Division I women’s college basketball, but the number has dwindled to three after a revealing, thrilling week of conference play.

South Carolina, UCLA and Baylor all sit at 14-0 on the season, each in its own way surprisingly dominant to start the 2023-24 campaign. In fact, not one of them was picked in the preseason to win its respective conference.

Four previously unbeaten teams — NC State, West Virginia, TCU and Oregon State — suffered their first defeats this week. But no game or result was as noteworthy as the Wolfpack’s last-second loss to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, on Elizabeth Kitley’s game-winning shot with 0.9 seconds left, made possible by some fabulous playcalling from Kenny Brooks, inbounding from Cayla King and screening from Georgia Amoore.

NC State — which was without starting center River Baldwin (ankle) — was in control most of the game, and it took some unflappable shot-making from Kitley and Amoore, plus a nearly eight-minute scoring drought in the fourth quarter, for the game to slip away. It was both a crushing result — given the way the Wolfpack lost, Saniya Rivers even scored a go-ahead layup with 2.1 seconds remaining — and a reassurance that they are still one of the best teams in the country, even if they now have a loss attached to their record.

That result, and Baylor’s decisive win over No. 23 TCU, shuffled the top five of the Week 9 Power Rankings.

Notre Dame and Utah lost for the second consecutive week — the Irish to North Carolina at home and the Utes to Arizona on the road — and fell out of the rankings. Injury/illness luck hasn’t been on either team’s side this season. Members of Utah (already down Isabel Palmer and Gianna Kneepkens) were apparently dealing with a bout of food poisoning during the trip.

Notre Dame, meanwhile, had some good news in the form of Sonia Citron’s return Sunday after a knee sprain that kept her out nearly two months. But the Irish sorely missed Maddy Westbeld, who was sidelined with a concussion.

Which two teams took the places of Notre Dame and Utah?

We try not to have repeat winners in these weekly awards, but sometimes an individual or team does something so extraordinary we have to make an exception. Dropping a 40-piece with a game-winning, step-back logo 3 at the buzzer, and following it with a triple-double, qualifies. No one had a better start to 2024 than Caitlin Clark, who added to her legendary status with those heroics against Michigan State and then notched the 14th triple-double of her career (and third of the season) her next time out, finishing with 29 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists at Rutgers. The Hawkeyes are 14-0 all time when Clark records a triple-double and, more importantly, 15-1 on the season.

The Tar Heels have shown they can compete with some of the best teams in the country, but they haven’t always translated that into wins. Things haven’t been going their way healthwise, either, with several rotation players dealing with an array of injuries that have left North Carolina short-handed (as recently as this week Kayla McPherson was ruled out for the season). The Tar Heels even dropped out of the AP poll last week for the first time this season despite having defeated Clemson.

But one team beat two ranked squads this week: North Carolina. The Tar Heels picked up their first ranked win of the season with a 75-51 statement against No. 25 Syracuse and then beat No. 16 Notre Dame 61-57 for UNC’s first win in South Bend. Alyssa Ustby was the star against the Orange, recording the program’s first triple-double (16 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists), and Stanford transfer Indya Nivar had her best game of the season Sunday with 10 fourth-quarter points against the Irish.

This team can be dangerous the more its players — Nivar and fellow transfers Lexi Donarski (Iowa State) and Maria Gakdeng (Boston College) — mesh together and if it can find more consistent offensive firepower. Taking down another ranked opponent in Florida State in Tallahassee on Thursday would show the country that North Carolina is putting it together.

Also receiving consideration: Vanderbilt. The Commodores’ 15-1 start is second-best in program history after wins over Mississippi State and Florida.