Women's Power Rankings: What every team needs in the new year - ESPN

Holiday season often involves gift-giving, which can be complicated by this question: What do people really need? Sometimes it's hard to know.

But what do teams need? It's a little easier to answer based on what we've seen so far in the 2023-24 women's college basketball season.

The final ESPN Power Rankings for the calendar year stay static, as there was just one loss among the top 16 — and it was to a higher-ranked team. Things should start changing more from New Year's Day on as conference play takes over.

Among the things we've learned this season: Several freshmen are ready for prime time, some so-called mid-major and small conference teams have toppled Power 5 schools, and the South Carolina Gamecocks are trying to run the table in the regular season a second year in a row despite a new starting lineup.

This week, we look at what each team needs as it enters league play and the journey toward March Madness takes another big step.

The Buckeyes split games last week — falling to UCLA but beating Belmont — and Sheldon had a combined 61 points. She was 24 of 41 from the field overall (58.5%) and 8 of 15 from behind the arc (53.3%). The fifth-year guard, who was limited to 13 games last season due to injury, has started every game and leads Ohio State in scoring (19.1 PPG) and steals (2.2). She is shooting 56% from the field overall and 43.4% from behind the arc.

In a week where Oregon State secured a future basketball home (for at least two years) in the West Coast Conference along with Washington State, the Beavers moved to 10-0. They got victories over SE Louisiana and Texas Tech at the Maui Classic. Talia von Oelhoffen was tournament MVP with a combined 38 points, 11 rebounds and 17 assists. Oregon State has one