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College Basketball: NCAA Finals: South Carolina Aliyah Boston taking selfie with trophy after defeating UConn at Target Center. Minneapolis, MN 4/3/2022 CREDIT: David E. Klutho (Photo by David E. Klutho/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (Set Number: X164002 TK1)
College Basketball: NCAA Finals: South Carolina Aliyah Boston taking selfie with trophy after defeating UConn at Target Center. Minneapolis, MN 4/3/2022 CREDIT: David E. Klutho (Photo by David E. Klutho/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (Set Number: X164002 TK1)Set Number: X164002 TK1

AP Women's College Basketball Poll 2022: Complete Preseason Rankings Released

Joseph Zucker
Oct 18, 2022

South Carolina was the unanimous pick to lead the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll ahead of the 2022-23 women's college basketball campaign.

The defending-champion Gamecocks collected all 30 first-place votes. Head coach Dawn Staley told the AP's Doug Feinberg that No. 1 "is where we wanted to be and envisioned for our program."

"I got to give it to our players," she said. "We constantly get some of the best players in the country. They put us in this position, as they work extremely hard. I don't know if they come in and say, 'I want to be the No. 1 team in the country,' but they do say they want to be national champions. This is a step to being a national champion."

Stanford, Texas, Iowa and Tennessee round out the top five.

AP Preseason Top 25 Poll

  1. South Carolinaย 
  2. Stanfordย 
  3. Texasย 
  4. Iowaย 
  5. Tennesseeย 
  6. Connecticutย 
  7. Louisvilleย 
  8. Iowa Stateย 
  9. Notre Dameย 
  10. North Carolina Stateย 
  11. Indianaย 
  12. North Carolinaย 
  13. Virginia Techย 
  14. Ohio Stateย 
  15. Oklahomaย 
  16. LSUย 
  17. Marylandย 
  18. Baylorย 
  19. Arizonaย 
  20. Oregonย 
  21. Creightonย 
  22. Nebraskaย 
  23. South Dakota Stateย 
  24. Princeton
  25. Michigan

The Gamecocks aren't totally running it back from last year, with Destanni Henderson now plying her trade in the WNBA. But the bulk of a roster responsible for a 35-2 record in 2021-22 is returning.

No star shines brighter than Aliyah Boston. The 6'5" forward averaged 16.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocks en route to winning every major individual award. Zia Cooke, who averaged 10.7 points and 1.7 assists, will help to shoulder some of the playmaking burden following Henderson's departure.

Staley also reloaded by bringing in Georgia Tech transfer Kierra Fletcher, who dished out 3.7 assists per game in her final year with the Yellow Jackets. Incoming freshmen Ashlyn Watkins and Talaysia Cooper were the Nos. 12 and 18 players, respectively in HoopGurlz's 2022 rankings, too.

The Cardinal, meanwhile, are poised to make a third straight Final Four run and potentially lift their second title in three years. Head coach Tara VanDerveer supplemented a roster that already included Haley Jones and Cameron Brink with Lauren Betts, the No. 1 recruit in the country.

South Carolina and Stanford meet on Nov. 20 in Palo Alto, California, in a game that could further cement the Gamecocks' hold as the early season championship favorite.

Feinberg noted this is the first year since 2006 that UConn didn't earn a top-five preseason ranking, and that's partially because of Paige Bueckers' torn ACL. Still, the Huskies landed a pair of 5-star recruits in Ayanna Patterson and Ice Brady to help fill the void left by Evina Westbrook, Christyn Williams and Olivia Nelson-Ododa.

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