Women’s College Basketball Players Rankings – Class by Class! Week 5

Editors Note: I was out of town this weekend for to visit my relatives and so I was unable to keep up with the games and scores through the weekend but I still wanted to get a post up. Luckily, Tom Suiter came through and delivered this week’s post. This will be the only time you will see the rankings posted on a Tuesday, it will go back to the normal slot every Monday. This also means that last night’s performances will be put in next week’s post.

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It was a Thanksgiving holiday hangover for many teams – or simply, such as #1 Stanford’s case, semester exams – but a few standout performances dominated the headlines as the upsets continue to mount in the early portion of the season. But not all the drama ended with the various warm-weather Thanksgiving tournaments. This week saw the beloved Big12/SEC Challenge return and the ACC-Big Ten Challenge surprises on the victory count – both provided a few upsets as well as some standout performances in each class, punctuated by the annual Notre Dame/Connecticut match-up on Sunday.

Rhyne Howard could be the greatest player to ever suit up for Kentucky and as a sophomore, tied her career high against Charlotte with 29 points and then broke it on Sunday against Samford by a point. Megan Walker was a force again on the court, her all-around improvement into an All-America caliber player for the Huskies, averaging 27.5 per game this week.  Her freshmen teammate Aubrey Griffin had a breakout game against Seton Hall – before a quiet outing against the Irish – but that still puts her atop this week’s frosh ranking; Geno and the Storrs faithful are hoping the Seton Hall game will be a sign of consistency to come. Not to be outdone, several mid-major stars showed up with Western Kentucky’s Dee Givens, Rider’s Stella Johnson and South Dakota’s Hannah Sjerven all showing out and putting up big numbers. Michaela Oyenwere and Chennedy Carter carried standout performances in their wins as well, perhaps Carter’s scoring her team’s final 15 points in the Oklahoma State wine would put her on top of most lists if not for Walker’s back-to-back dominance against UConn’s former Big East foes.

Ohio State relied on their underclassmen and some new faces in Columbus to carry them past Louisville, who astoundingly received lackluster performances from their juniors and seniors and couldn’t get a bucket when needed. West Virginia handed Mississippi State their first non-conference home loss in 5 years. Florida State’s senior trio had great games this past week  – including a come-from-behind victory against Michigan State and some freshmen help in the Sunday league victory against Clemson.

New names are emerging on this list, so looking forward to seeing who can sustain performances in the weeks ahead, with turkey hangovers complete, conference season kicking off and more exams looming ahead.

Listed below are the top 36 seniors, the top 27 juniors, the top 18 sophomores and the top 9 freshmen for the week of Dec. 2nd to Dec. 8th. Have questions? Read my FAQ page. Click here for last week’s list.

SENIORS

1. Kiah Gillespie, Florida State
2. Ruthy Hebard, Oregon
3. Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon
4. Dee Givens, Western Kentucky
5. Nausia Woolfolk, Florida State
6. Nicki Ekhomu, Florida State
7. Tyasha Harris, South Carolina
8. Haley Gorecki, Duke
9. Jordan Danberry, Mississippi State
10. Borislava Hristova, Washington State
11. Jocelyn Willoughby, Virginia
12. Jasmine Jones, Louisville
13. Stella Johnson, Rider
14. Peyton Williams, Kansas State
15. Francesca Pann, Georgia Tech
16. Davida Dale, Rhode Island
17. Ayana Mitchell, LSU
18. Mikiah Herbert-Harrigan, South Carolina
19. Kathleen Doyle, Iowa
20. Brenna Wise, Indiana
21. Tynice Martin, West Virginia
22. Kyra Collier, Arkansas-Little Rock
23. Crystal Dangerfield, Connecticut
24. Taiye Bello, Minnesota
25. Taylor Kalmer, San Diego State
26. Jaylyn Agnew, Creighton
27. Kayla Robbins, Michigan
28. Brittany Brewer, Texas Tech
29. Kelly Campbell, DePaul
30. Ja’Tavia Tapley, Arizona State
31. Sug Sutton, Texas
32. Shadeen Samuels, Seton Hall
33. Ciani Cryor, Texas Southern
34. Jaycee Bradley, Texas Christian
35. Ae’Rianna Harris, Purdue
36. LaShann Higgs, Texas

JUNIORS

1. Megan Walker, Connecticut
2. Chelsea Dungee, Oklahoma
3. Chennedy Carter, Texas A&M
4. Michaela Oyenwere, UCLA
5. Unique Thompson, Auburn
6. Natasha Mack, Oklahoma State
7. Kamaria McDaniel, Penn State
8. Vivian Gray, Oklahoma State
9. Lindsay Pulliam, Northwestern
10. Digna Strautmane, Syracuse
11. Rennia Davis, Tennessee
12. Aari McDonald, Arizona
13. Hannah Sjerven, South Dakota
14. Arella Guirantes, Rutgers
15. CeCe Hooks, Ohio
16. Jaelyn Penn, Indiana
17. Ana Llanusa, Oklahoma
18. Angela Perry, Bowling Green
19. Janell Bailey, North Carolina
20. Dana Evans, Louisville
21. Megan Gedaka, Villanova
22. Maddi Utti, Fresno State
23. Mallory McGwire, Boise State
24. Trinity Baptiste, Virginia Tech
25. Karissa McClaughlin, Purdue
26. Kai Crutchfield, NC State
27. Aisha Shepperd, Virginia Tech

SOPHOMORES

1. Rhyne Howard, Kentucky
2. Olivia Nelson-Ododa, Connecticut
3. Cat Reese, Arizona
4. Dorka Juhasz, Ohio State
5. Queen Egbo, Baylor
6. Elisa Cunane, NC State
7. Ashley Joens, Iowa State
8. Tereza Vitulova, Wyoming
9. Naz Hillmon, Michigan
10. Taylor Robertson, Oklahoma
11. Emma Clark, Colorado
12. Taylor Mikesell, Maryland
13. Monika Czinano, Iowa
14. Dara Mabrey, Virginia Tech
15. Chrislyn Carr, Texas Tech
16. Brooklyn Mitchell, Kansas
17. Kari Niblack, West Virginia
18. Marissa Mackins, Temple

FRESHMEN