The Atlantic 10: a conference filled to the brim with buzzer beater finishes, high intensity play and paradoxical upsets.
Every week, The Good Five Cent Cigar sports staff will vote on these teams to generate a power ranking of the conference’s basketball programs.
Here are the women’s basketball rankings as of Feb. 11:
15th Place: University of Massachusetts Minutewomen (3-22) (1-12) (-)
With 11 straight losses and a dead last position in the A-10 standings, UMass’ bottom dwelling spot in the power rankings will stay as such for another week.
The last two losses of the streak came this past week in a 79-62 loss to Duquesne University and a 64-50 defeat to Fordham University. The Minutewomen’s offensive struggles have served as their main achilles heel this season. UMass has not scored 70 points since Jan. 6, and a boost in offensive efficiency is necessary to improve in the final stretch of the season.
14th Place: St. Bonaventure University Bonnies (4-19) (1-11) (-)
Scoring in the 40’s has been a common occurrence for the Bonnies this season. With two straight sub-50 point performances extending their losing streak to 11 games, St. Bonaventure is ice cold.
The Bonnies lost to George Washington University (69-48) and Virginia Commonwealth University (54-40) this week.
13th Place: George Washington University Revolutionaries (9-15) (2-10) (-)
In a tough end of the week, the Revolutionaries were unable to take down a top contender, the University of Richmond, as they fell to the Spiders 83-61.
However, earlier in the week, George Washington placed themselves above their power ranking neighbor St. Bonaventure, defeating the Bonnies 69-48.
12th Place: La Salle University Explorers (7-16) (4-8) (-1)
Scoring less than 40 points in a collegiate basketball game is rare. Doing it three times in a single season is even more uncommon, as the Explorers fell to Loyola University Chicago 73-39 this past week.
La Salle compiled this result with another loss to Duquesne, 57-52, resulting in a drop this week in the power rankings.
11th Place: University of Dayton Flyers (10-14) (4-9) (-1)
Dayton became yet another team to record two losses this week, losing 70-48 to Fordham and 74-50 to George Mason University.
The low scoring outputs were uncharacteristic for the A-10’s second best offense, scoring an average of 72.3 points per game this season. Their inability to score the basketball saw them drop in the power rankings this week.
10th Place: Fordham University Rams (9-15) (4-9) (+2)
With back-to-back wins for the first time since November, Fordham’s wins over Dayton (70-48) and UMass (64-50) allowed the Rams to be the power rankings’ largest jump-up this week.
Although the wins were not against any top-ranking opponents, Fordham had lost 13 of their last 15 games before this past week, so success is welcomed in the Bronx right now no matter the form.
9th Place: Loyola University Chicago Ramblers (12-12) (6-7) (-1)
After taking down La Salle 73-39, their largest margin of victory this season, Loyola was snapped back to reality when they were bested by Davidson College 48-45 to close out the week.
The loss brought the Ramblers back to a state of mediocrity, returning to an even record of 12-12, as well as dropping them in this week’s rankings by one spot.
8th Place: Saint Louis University Billikens (10-15) (5-7) (+1)
Serving as the A-10’s upset of the week, SLU was boosted over Rhode Island on the road off of a career-high 31 points from Peyton Kennedy, leading the Billikens to a 76-73 victory.
The win made up for SLU’s previous loss to VCU, in which they fell at home 76-67. Even with a .500 record on the week, the Billikens still saw advancement this week, sliding up one position in the power rankings.
7th Place: University of Rhode Island Rams (15-11) (7-6) (-1)
With their loss to St. Louis, Rhode Island has lost three straight regular season games for the first time since December of 2020.
To make things worse, both of their losses to Richmond (68-49) and Saint Louis (76-73) this past week came at home, matching their home loss tally for the previous calendar year. Rhode Island is now in desperate need of a turnaround entering the final stretch of the season.
6th Place: Davidson College Wildcats (17-6) (7-5) (+1)
Davidson benefited from a full week’s rest after receiving a mid-week bye, and took down Loyola on the road 48-45.
With the win, their streak has been extended to three games, and they slowly but surely are moving towards the top-five spots in the power rankings.
5th Place: Duquesne University Dukes (15-9) (10-3) (-)
With wins against UMass (79-62) and La Salle (57-52), Duquesne did not defeat any A-tier opponents but was able to get the job done nonetheless.
The Dukes have now won seven of their last eight games, and are knocking on the doorstep of becoming a top contender in the A-10.
4th Place: Virginia Commonwealth University Rams (21-3) (10-2) (-)
Winners of nine of their last 10, VCU picked up a 76-67 road win against Saint Louis before taking down St. Bonaventure at home 54-40.
Holding the second best overall record in the A-10, the Rams will certainly be a team to look out for come March.
3rd Place: George Mason University Patriots (19-4) (10-2) (-1)
A 59-47 loss to top-ranked Saint Joseph’s University, although demoralizing, should be taken with a grain of salt given the opponent.
With the initial defeat, George Mason rebounded back on the road when they took down Dayton 74-50.
2nd Place: Richmond University Spiders (21-4) (11-1) (+1)
Richmond’s 12 wins in their last 13 games makes them one of the best teams in the conference; their third ranked scoring margin of 13.4 reinforces that claim.
With two wins this week against Rhode Island (68-49) and George Washington (83-61), the Spiders are continuing on their path of domination this season.
1st Place: Saint Joseph’s University Hawks (22-2) (11-1) (-)
Dominance is one of many words that can be used to describe the 2023-24 season for the Saint Joseph’s Hawks. Winners of nine straight, the longest streak in the A-10, the Hawks seem unstoppable.
With George Mason serving as their latest victim, the 59-47 win for the Hawks kept them in sole possession of first place and in prime position to do damage in Henrico, Virginia.