The 2026-27 women's college basketball season is already off to a rousing start, and spoiler alert: South Carolina is still very good! The Gamecocks got off to a 2-0 start, with both wins coming over ranked teams, and Dawn Staley's squad firmly looks like the team to beat this season. But below them in the rankings, there were storylines galore.
It was a week filled with records, including the debut of the tallest player in women's college basketball history, Texas Tech's 7-foot-1 Stephanie Okechukwu, and the most lopsided game in women's Division I history, LSU's 109-point blowout of Texas Southern. It also included a vanishing event, a historic upset, an iconic return, a couple of headline-generating gaffes and even a dazzling debut from a WNBA draftee. Without further ado, here are winners and losers from the opening week of action: There's no reason to get cute off the top.
On Thursday night at the Crisler Center, the Wolverines got one of the biggest wins in program history, defeating then-No. 2 UConn, 77-66. Coming into the game, the Huskies had won 39 regular-season games in a row, dating back to Feb. 6, 2025. We love you, @MaizeRageUM pic.twitter.com/0tcFYZWmo4 The win took Michigan from No. 5 to No. 2 in the AP poll, and sent a message that the Wolverines are a true Final Four contender.
It was a marquee moment for head coach Kim Barnes Arico and her star-studded junior class, most of whom came into the program together as freshmen to do something special. "That's why we came here. We had belief in the program, and we wanted to help build it, to take it places it hasn't been," guard Olivia Olson said.
"I'm just proud to be part of it." Te'Yala Delfosse, one of the more unheralded members of that class, led the way with 22 points, nine rebounds and four 3-pointers. Olson added 10 points and eight rebounds, while Syla Swords had 10 points and five boards. There are always some kinks to work out early in the season, but last week that notion was taken to new heights not once, but twice.
Two players in two separate games in Division I women's basketball on Friday shot the ball into the wrong basket. Yes, we had two basketball own goals. Northwestern State’s Karma Wynn scores on her own basket pic.twitter.com/4o8Y5rruG0 The first came from Karma Wynn of Northwestern State, who got mixed up during a full-court press after her team inbounded the ball in the first quarter and scored two points for Arkansas.
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