The Oklahoma women's basketball team felt the harsh consequences of losing two games in the same week despite falling just once during the eight weeks before that.
After losing to then-No. 18 Ole Miss and then-No. 6 Kentucky in SEC contests last week, the Sooners dropped eight spots from No. 5 to outside the top 10, let alone the top 5, at No. 13 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 that was released on Monday.
Sooners drop outside of top 10 in AP Top 25 after back-to-back losses
After losing to No. 3 UCLA in the second game of the season, the Sooners rattled off 13 wins in a row during an undefeated December before suffering the pair of losses last week. First, Ole Miss upset OU 74-69 on Thursday at Lloyd Noble Center. Then, unable to rebound, the Sooners lost to No. 6 Kentucky 63-57 on Sunday in Lexington. Despite beating OU, Kentucky slipped a spot in the newest AP Top 25 to No. 7 after losing to unranked Alabama earlier in the week. Ole Miss jumped two spots to No. 16.
The SEC had nine squads included in the latest AP Top 25 while taking up half of the top 10. Even at 14-3 and a team expected to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, OU is still just the sixth-highest ranked team from its conference behind No. 2 South Carolina, No. 4 Texas, No. 5 Vanderbilt, No. 6 LSU and No. 7 Kentucky. Other ranked SEC teams include No. 16 Ole Miss, No. 20 Tennessee and No. 21 Alabama. The 2-2 start in SEC play also has OU in the bottom half of conference standings early on.
That means the Sooners still have plenty of opportunity to rise back into the top 5 in the next two months, but could also easily turn two losses into a prolonged losing streak. OU hosts No. 6 LSU on Sunday for a rare one-game week and a full week to recover from back-to-back losses before taking the court again. After LSU, No. 2 South Carolina awaits on Jan. 22.