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Big Win Keeps No. 2 South Carolina Atop NCAA Basketball AP Poll Ranks

South Carolina's Raven Johnson dribbles against Texas's Rori Harmon during Sunday's NCAA basketball game.
South Carolina held Texas to 27.8% from the field on Sunday. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

An unfazed No. 2 South Carolina isn't letting injury​ slow them down, earning their season's first Top 5 NCAA basketball win with a dominant 67-50 victory over No. 5 Texas on Sunday.

The Gamecocks' trademark lock-down defense was in full force, holding the Longhorns to a field goal percentage of 27.8 despite Texas's 22 forced turnovers.

"I would say with our team, they seem to really focus in when there's a number beside our opponent, they practice a little better," South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said of her squad's tough ranked schedule. "They’re more focused, they talk less. They knew the intangibles of this game would play a huge role in us winning or losing."

Coming off an undefeated championship season, South Carolina has taken their knocks while also proving just how capable they are of a repeat win.

The Gamecocks saw their 43-game winning streak snapped by No. 1 UCLA in November before losing key contributor Ashlyn Watkins to an ACL tear earlier this month.

At the same time, South Carolina has now tallied five ranked wins on the season — four of them over Top 10 teams. The Gamecocks are looking comfortable as they enter a particularly grueling stretch of conference play, with No. 19 Alabama and No. 13 Oklahoma waiting to try and topple the current champs later this week.

Michigan's Jordan Hobbs dribbles around Minnesota's Amaya Battle during a 2024 NCAA basketball game.
While Michigan fell from Monday's NCAA basketball rankings, Minnesota made its first poll since 2019. (Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)

Ranked losses fuel AP basketball poll movement

Today's AP poll update saw significant shifts throughout Division I basketball's Top 25, with elite teams cooling off as the NCAA season heats up.

While No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 South Carolina, No. 3 Notre Dame, and No. 4 USC held steady, the Longhorns' loss to the Gamecocks earned them a two-spot dip to No. 7.

Elsewhere in the Top 10, LSU's still-undefeated campaign saw the Tigers rise one notch into the No. 5 position, as UConn also capitalized on Texas's misfortune, coming in one spot higher than last week at No. 6.

Deeper into the Top 25, Georgia Tech and Iowa suffered some of the week's biggest tumbles. After adding Sunday defeats to their Thursday losses, the once-unbeaten Yellow Jackets fell four spots to No. 17, while Iowa joined fellow Big Ten member Michigan in being ousted from Monday's rankings entirely.

Snagging the largest leaps in Monday's poll were No. 14 UNC and No. 18 Cal, whose ranked upset wins boosted them five and six spots, respectively.

Two teams also joined the AP party, as two-loss Oklahoma State and one-loss Minnesota enter tied at No. 24. Both teams are making their poll debuts for the first time in years: The last time the Cowgirls were ranked was in 2018, and the Golden Gophers's last Top 25 appearance was in 2019.

Week 11 AP college basketball poll

1. UCLA (16-0, Big Ten)
2. South Carolina (16-1, SEC)
3. Notre Dame (14-2, ACC)
4. USC (16-1, Big Ten)
5. LSU (19-0, SEC)
6. UConn (15-2, Big East)
7. Texas (16-2, SEC)
8. Maryland (15-1, Big Ten)
9. Ohio State (16-0, Big Ten)
10. TCU (17-1, Big 12)
11. Kansas State (17-1, Big 12)
12. Kentucky (15-1, SEC)
13. Oklahoma (14-3, SEC)
14. UNC (15-3, ACC)
15. Tennessee (14-2, SEC)
16. Duke (13-4, ACC)
17. Georgia Tech (15-2, ACC)
18. Cal (16-2, ACC)
19. Alabama (16-2, SEC)
20. West Virginia (13-3, Big 12)
21. NC State (12-4, ACC)
22. Michigan State (13-3, Big Ten)
23. Utah (13-3, Big 12)
T24. Minnesota (16-1, Big Ten)
T24. Oklahoma State (14-2, Big 12)

USWNT Honors Retired Captain Becky Sauerbrunn Ahead of Jamaica Friendly

USWNT attacker Catarina Macario celebrates scoring in a 2025 friendly.
Catarina Macario and the USWNT will face Jamaica on Tuesday night. (Bailey Hillesheim/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The world No. 1 USWNT is gearing up to take on No. 40 Jamaica on Tuesday night, capping the two-friendly international break with a match spotlighting both the past and future of the program.

After opening the stretch with a 3-0 Saturday win over No. 17 China PR in St. Paul, Minnesota, major roster rotations are expected in St. Louis, Missouri, on Tuesday as US head coach Emma Hayes continues evaluating fresh and familiar on-field combos.

"I want to make sure that, whether you start, whether you come into the game [off the bench], it shouldn't alter our level," Hayes told media this week. "If anything, we should keep finding other levels in us."

Plenty of young firepower will feature on Tuesday's pitch, but the clash will also celebrate a recently retired USWNT great.

Two-time World Cup champion, Olympic gold medalist, and St. Louis product Becky Sauerbrunn will take center stage, with Energizer Park even doling out bobbleheads in the standout center back's likeness.

"I've got a locker room — not just the senior players, but less experienced players — that talk about [Sauerbrunn] in the highest esteem, both as a leader and as a human being," said Hayes of the longtime USWNT captain. "I don't think you could want anything more than that in life, to have people talk about you like that."

How to watch the USWNT vs. Jamaica friendly on Tuesday

The USWNT will take on the Reggae Girlz at 8 PM ET on Tuesday in St. Louis, Missouri, with live coverage on TNT.

2025 WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Tips Off with Conference Rivalries

New York Liberty guard Natasha Cloud high-fives teammate Rebekah Gardner during a 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup game.
The New York Liberty opened their 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup run with a 48-point win over Connecticut. (Catalina Fragoso/NBAE via Getty Images)

The WNBA Commissioner's Cup is back with its 2025 edition, as the annual in-season tournament raises both stakes and incentives across the league.

Winning percentage, point differential, and head-to-head records all factor in as both Eastern and Western Conference teams battle it out for a shot at the competition's $500,000 prize pool.

Launched in 2021, the Commissioner’s Cup runs concurrently with the regular season, drawing on in-conference matchups to build a team's overall Cup record.

The 2025 competition opened on June 1st, tipping off three straight weeks of conference play that will culminate in a July 1st championship final between the Eastern and Western Conference winners.

Last season's final foreshadowed the eventual WNBA Finals, as the Minnesota Lynx topped New York to lift the 2024 Commissioner's Cup before the Liberty enacted revenge by taking the 2024 Championship a few months later.

Hoping to lift both trophies this season, New York started the 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup party with a 48-point statement win over the Connecticut Sun last Sunday.

How to watch Tuesday's 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup games

Every WNBA game on Tuesday will have Cup stakes, starting with the Washington Mystics' visit to the Indiana Fever at 7 PM ET on NBATV.

Then at 8 PM ET, the Minnesota Lynx will host the Phoenix Mercury, airing on ESPN3, before the Dallas Wings close out Tuesday's slate in Seattle against the Storm at 9:30 PM ET on ESPN.

WNBA Rosters Add Hardship Contracts to Offset Injury Reports

Phoenix Mercury roster addition Haley Jones drives to the basket during a 2025 WNBA game.
Haley Jones signed a rest-of-season WNBA hardship contract with the Phoenix Mercury this week. (Harry How/Getty Images)

With injuries mounting across the WNBA, several teams have started stocking up on recently waived free agents, bolstering their depleted rosters with hardship signings as they head into a busy stretch of the 2025 regular season.

With both guard Kahleah Copper and forward Alyssa Thomas sidelined, the Phoenix Mercury signed former Atlanta Dream guard and 2023 first-round draft pick Haley Jones to a rest-of-season hardship contract on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Fever picked up ex-LA Sparks guard and 2021 first-rounder Aari McDonald on Sunday, with Indiana looking to boost their backcourt depth in light of injuries to guards Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham, and Sydney Colson.

These hardship signings come in clutch to keep benches stocked and WNBA teams in action.

However, the longevity of these early-season additions remains uncertain as teams attempt to balance league-maximum 12-player lineups with restrictive salary caps.

Hardship contracts allow teams to temporarily expand the salary cap, but when injured players return, so do tough roster calls — much to the dismay of front office decision-makers.

"More bodies would be good," Fever president Kelly Krauskopf told reporters with a wry laugh ahead of McDonald's signing.

Roster limitations will likely be a key issue when CBA negotiations rev up, with this week's emergency signings only adding fuel to the fire.

CBS Scores Champions League Broadcast Rights Through 2030 UWCL Season

Arsenal fans gather for the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League celebration parade.
CBS Sports will air all 75 matches in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League competition. (Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty Images)

CBS is bringing UEFA Champions League (UWCL) action to the US next season, with the network announcing Saturday that it has acquired the European Championship tournament's exclusive broadcast rights through the 2029/30 campaign.

Ending with English side Arsenal lifting their first UWCL trophy in 18 years, last weekend's Champion's League final was the competition's last match in its a four-year international media deal with streamer DAZN.

Starting next season, however, CBS will air all 75 Champions League matches live across Paramount+, CBS Sports Network, and the CBS Sports Golazo Network.

"CBS Sports is proud to be the home of all women's and men's UEFA club competitions through the end of the decade," said CBS Sports' EVP of programming Dan Weinberg.

Further aligning with the men's tournament, the post-qualifiers Champions League competition will grow from 16 to 18 teams in 2025/26, while also transitioning from a group stage play-in to a single-league standings format.

"As the competition embarks on an exciting new era, we look forward to CBS Sports delivering its dynamic and insightful coverage to American audiences, showcasing the highest level of women's club football in its new format over the next five seasons," said Guy-Laurent Epstein, managing director at UC3, the commercial entity uniting UEFA and the European Club Association.

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