Women’s college basketball rankings: Gonzaga falls to No. 17 in AP Top 25 poll (1/23/23)
Back-to-back wins on the road weren’t enough to keep the Gonzaga women’s basketball team from falling in Monday’s Associated Press Top 25 poll.
The Zags (19-2, 9-0 WCC) fell one spot to No. 17 after defeating Pacific on Thursday and Saint Mary’s on Saturday.
Gonzaga narrowly avoided a major upset to Pacific, as head coach Lisa Fortier’s squad almost squandered a 14-point halftime lead but hung on to win 81-78.
“Pacific played well and hard,” Fortier said to The Spokesman-Review. “Not all of them are smooth and easy. I’m just happy that we won.”
Gonzaga had four players in double figures, including Yvonne Ejim, who had 22 points to go along with 12 rebounds. McKayla Williams finished with 19 points, while also collecting seven rebounds and two steals.
The Zags notched a much more convincing 82-57 victory against Saint Mary’s, with Ejim leading the way with 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field.
Although Gonzaga fell a spot in the national rankings, it gained 10 points from last week.
Defending champion South Carolina was first in the poll with 28 first-place votes, remaining the top-ranked team for 31 straight weeks. The Gamecocks were followed by Ohio State, Stanford, LSU and UConn.
Gonzaga returns home to host LMU on Thursday and Pepperdine on Saturday.
Here’s the full AP Top 25 poll for Week 12 of the 2022-23 season:
1. South Carolina (28)
2. Ohio State 669
3. Stanford 615
4. LSU 603
5. UConn 596
6. Indiana 584
7. Notre Dame 541
8. UCLA 448
9. Utah 430
10. Iowa 425
10. Maryland 425
12. Virginia Tech 403
13. Michigan 352
14. Oklahoma 304
15. North Carolina 298
16. Duke 281
17. Gonzaga 259
18. Iowa State 221
19. Arizona 201
20. NC State 171
21. Villanova 145
22. Illinois 103
23. Middle Tennessee 64
24. Florida State 57
25. Colorado 56
Others receiving votes: Tennessee 47, Texas 35, South Florida 31, USC 22, Oregon 10, Arkansas 2, UNLV 1, Alabama 1
