WVU Women’s Basketball Left Out of Latest AP Top 25

WVU Women’s Basketball stretched their perfect record to 9-0 on the season this past week, showing in the process why they’re one of the best teams in the nation this year as they picked up a ranked win over No. 25 Penn State and blew the doors off hapless Delaware State.

Those convincing wins weren’t enough for the AP Poll voters, however, as the Mountaineers were left on the outside looking in when Monday’s poll came out. West Virginia received 21 points, the fourth-best margin amongst unranked teams—coming behind Washington, Washington State and TCU.

Per the NET rankings, the Mountaineers are a Top 25 team, currently occupying the No. 21 spot. Of the 41 teams receiving votes this week, they’re one of 21 to boast an undefeated record.

West Virginia hasn’t played the strongest schedule in the world, to be sure, but they’re dominating the teams on their schedule. What’s more, a double digit win over a ranked Penn State team is nothing to sneeze at. They’ve forced more than 20 turnovers in eight of the nine games they’ve played this season, averaging 25.11—the third-best rate in the country.

The Mountaineers also sport 2023 Big 12 First-Team guard JJ Quinerly, who continues to excel, earning Big 12 Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career on Monday.

Right now, there isn’t much more the Mountaineers can do besides staying the course. They received just one vote in the Week 5 poll, so they’re already starting to catch more voters eyes with their aggressive defensive play and winning ways.

With home games against Wright State and Niagara before Big 12 play begins on December 30 at Kansas, WVU Women’s Basketball has one last stretch to tune up before the games really start to matter.