Women's college basketball Power Rankings: Are the Minnesota Golden Gophers peaking at the right time?

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Duke has entered the top 10 in the CBS Sports women’s college basketball power rankings thanks to a 15-game winning streak, which includes a 59-58 road victory over Louisville last week. The Blue Devils have grown a lot throughout the season and are now the only undefeated team remaining in the ACC.

Meanwhile, Iowa slipped out of the top 10 after losing three of its last four matchups — including a 91-85 loss at home to Minnesota. The Hawkeyes haven’t gone too far as they are only down to No. 12. They got a boost thanks to their 65-56 win over Washington on Wednesday night.

For the Huskies, that result led them to fall off the power rankings. They were still being considered for No. 25, but Minnesota’s win over Iowa helped the Golden Gophers’ case to take that spot. It wasn’t an easy decision because Washington did beat Minnesota on Jan. 18, but the win over Iowa shows Dawn Plitzuweit’s squad could be peaking at the right time. Minnesota has also been competitive in close losses to other top opponents, including a one-point overtime loss to Maryland in December and a 10-point loss at Michigan in January. Until Iowa, Minnesota’s best win had been a 63-62 result at USC on Jan. 11.

One team experiencing a rollercoaster of a season is Iowa State. The Cyclones are still being affected by the absence of forward Addy Brown, who is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury. According to Big 12 analyst Rachel Gilligan, Iowa State became the first team in the conference to lose five consecutive games and then win five straight. However, that winning streak snapped with an 83-69 loss to BYU on Tuesday, which led the Cyclones to drop out of the rankings again.

This is a big week for the SEC as No. 3 Texas will take on No. 6 Vanderbilt on Thursday. A few days later, No. 4 South Carolina and No. 5 LSU will meet in Baton Rouge on Valentines day. There is still a lot of basketball left to play in the regular season, but what happens in the next few days could give us a clearer picture of who could finish the SEC on top and perhaps even affect who might earn a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament.

Here are the just in CBS Sports women’s college basketball Power Rankings.

Women’s college basketball Power Rankings

1	Huskies
Last week: 1
2	Bruins
Last week: 2
3	Longhorns
Last week: 3
4	Gamecocks
Last week: 4
5	Lady Tigers
Last week: 5
6	Commodores
Last week: 7
7	Wolverines
Last week: 8
8	Buckeyes
Last week: 11
9	Sooners
Last week: 9
10	Blue Devils
Last week: 15
11	Cardinals
Last week: 6
12	Hawkeyes
Last week: 10
13	Bears
Last week: 14
14	Rebels
Last week: 12
15	Terrapins
Last week: 16
16	Horned Frogs
Last week: 13
17	Mountaineers
Last week: 20
18	Spartans
Last week: 17
19	Wildcats
Last week: 19
20	Tar Heels
Last week: 25
21	Lady Volunteers
Last week: 18
22	Lady Raiders
Last week: NR
23	Crimson Tide
Last week: 22
24	Tigers
Last week: 24
25	Golden Gophers
Last week: NR