Rams won 12th-straight game to remain on top of the A-10 PHOTO CREDIT: Aidan Cahill
After another week of Atlantic 10 women’s basketball action, another power ranking is in order. With plenty of results to dive into, some good and some bad, here are the newest results of the collaborative A-10 women’s basketball power rankings.
15th: Loyola Chicago (-2)
The Wolves’ losses this week to Davidson and St. Bonaventure serves as an emphasis for why Loyola Chicago deserves to reside in last place. Loyola Chicago’s A-10 record is dead last in the standings and their recent performance is why… 11 straight losses.
14th: St. Bonaventure (+1)
The Bonnies’ win over Loyola Chicago on Saturday acts as the lone buoy for St. Bonaventure to remain out of last place. Before the victory they rode a six game losing streak, not to mention the win was only by one point, a 48-47 victory.
13th: Dayton (+1)
Back to back home losses are never good, especially when you are hoping for a late season push for tournament seeding like the Flyers are. Dayton’s losses to St. Louis and St. Joe’s were lackluster performances, however both opponents have been playing good basketball of late, so the Flyers get the benefit of the doubt this week.
12th: VCU (-)
VCU’s 67-45 loss to St. Joseph’s seemed like rock bottom for the Rams, before a 63-31 throttling from the hands of Rhode Island. The losing streak now sits at three, and the Rams are in need of a few big wins to close out the stretch.
11th: George Mason (-)
The Patriots were on cloud nine after a 65-51 victory over St. Bonaventure, before they were swiftly reality checked by UMass a few days later, losing 78-57. Their 5-8 conference record is by far not the worst in the A-10, but nowhere near good enough to crack the top ten.
10th (Tied): Richmond (-)
Richmond’s two wins this past week over La Salle and Davidson deservedly keep them inside the top ten. Their up and down season has been chaotic, earning them a 5-5 record. However, the spiders are hoping to finish the year on a high note in the coming weeks against St. Louis, Duquesne, VCU, and St. Bonaventure.
9th (Tied): Davidson (-1)
Following a tight 57-55 win over Loyola Chicago, followed by a big 75-44 loss to Richmond, the move down in the power rankings does make sense. Their 4-1 start to conference play continues to hold them afloat in the power rankings, despite their recent struggles.
8th: Duquesne (-1)
The Duke’s lone game this week was a 72-56 loss to La Salle, hence the drop in the rankings. Their up and down campaign has resulted in a mediocre 5-7 conference record thus far, so they will remain in the middle of the rankings until they prove themselves otherwise. They have several winnable games on the horizon against St. Bonaventure, Richmond, and Loyola Chicago.
7th: LaSalle (-1)
A 67-51 loss to Richmond early in the week caused a certain amount of worry in the La Salle locker room, however a dominant 72-56 victory over Duquesne erased any shadow of a doubt that La Salle can be a dark horse team come March.
6th: St. Louis (+3)
Back to back wins this week against Dayton and George Washington increase the winning streak to five, which is why the Billikens are this week’s biggest move up in the power rankings. This St. Louis team could make a push in the A-10 tournament if their momentum can continue into the postseason.
5th: George Washington (-1)
Back to back losses earned George Washigton their worst week of the season. Falling to Rhode Island and St. Louis are not terrible losses given the strength of the teams, but ending a five game winning streak is never a good thing to experience.
4th: St. Joes (+1)
Two wins in a week for the Hawks is a terrific bounce back from going 0-2 the previous week. Wins over VCU and Dayton aren’t terrific victories as both teams are struggling, but any win was needed, keeping St. Joes in the top five.
3rd: UMass (-1)
Ten straight wins for UMass marks the second longest win streak in the A-10, and wins this past week to Fordham and George Mason are the most recent additions to the tally. Although they drop in the power rankings, they still rank second in the A-10 standings.
2nd: Fordham (+1)
A win against Loyola Chicago gave them a boost, and keeping the game close against UMass in an 80-79 loss gave Fordham just enough ammunition to move into the 2nd place spot and overtake UMass.
1st: Rhode Island (-)
12-0, undefeated in conference play and receiving national top 25 votes, Rhode Island has essentially locked up the first place spot for the near future. Two dominant wins over George Washington and VCU grew the gap between first and second place even larger. With a tough game against UMass on the horizon for the Rams, they can almost definitively clinch the number one seed in the A-10 this week with a win.