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How Lady Vols writer Cora Hall voted in the AP Top 25: Big wins, history made by Ayoka Lee in week 11

Cora Hall
Knoxville News Sentinel

There were some massive wins this week in women's college basketball, especially with March Madness on the horizon. But first, the highlight of the week is Kansas State's Ayoka Lee.

Lee broke the Division I single-game scoring record, putting up an astounding 61 points on No. 14 Oklahoma Sunday. The 6-6 center hit 76.7% of her 30 shots, and added 12 rebounds and three blocks to lead her team to a 94-65 win over a ranked opponent. Kansas State moved up to No. 22 on my ballot from No. 25 last week.

On Thursday there was an ACC showdown between No. 3 Louisville and No. 4 NC State, and the Wolfpack pulled off one of the most impressive comeback wins of the season. 

LAST WEEK:How Lady Vols writer Cora Hall voted in the AP Top 25: Let's talk about conference play

WEEK NINE:How Lady Vols writer Cora Hall voted in the AP Top 25: Newcomers earn my votes in week nine

FOLLOW THE MADNESS: NCAA women's basketball scores, schedules, teams and more.

Kansas State center Ayoka Lee (50) puts up a shot between Oklahoma's Madi Williams (25) and Nevaeh Tot (1) while Taylor Robertson (30) looks on Sunday at Bramlage Coliseum. Lee broke the NCAA single game scoring record with 61 points in the Wildcats' 94-65 victory.

Louisville led 34-21 at halftime, stifling NC State with its defense – Louisville coach Jeff Walz even joked in his halftime interview that the teams should call the game and go home because of the bad weather. The Cardinals carried the lead all the way into the fourth quarter, which started with a 51-37 score in favor of Louisville. The game felt all but over, and then Diamond Johnson happened.

Johnson scored 14 points in the fourth quarter for the Wolfpack – hitting three 3-pointers – and led her team to outscoring Louisville 31-8 in the final ten minutes. It was a spectacular comeback by the Wolfpack, and a catastrophic breakdown for a Louisville defense that had the game in hand for 30 minutes. The win earned a No. 2 vote for NC State from me and dropped Louisville to No. 5.

The Tennessee Lady Vols continue to impress in SEC play and remain the lone undefeated team after a hard-fought 63-55 win in Athens over No. 13 Georgia. Tennessee, South Carolina and BYU are the only teams left on my ballot with one loss. The Lady Vols stay at No. 3 for me as they continue to add ranked wins to their resume.

Oregon's Te-Hina Paopao, right, celebrates the win over UConn with teammates after the 72-59 upset Jan. 17, 2022.

Oregon is back in my ballot at No. 18 after notching another top 10 win over Connecticut a mere 48 hours after taking down Arizona. With a finally healthy roster, the Ducks are back and looking like they'll be on pace to make a run come March.

Lastly, an SEC team that I did not expect to make an appearance on my ballot checks in at No. 25: the Florida Gators. At 15-5, Florida has been on a 5-game win streak since starting SEC play 0-2. In the last five games the Gators have won against three ranked opponents: Texas A&M, Kentucky and LSU – and all without All-SEC guard Lavender Briggs, who is out for the season with an injury and transferring to Maryland.

Florida plays South Carolina and Tennessee next, so they'll have some true tests ahead, but don't sleep on the Gators.

With that, here is my AP Top 25 ballot:

1. South Carolina

2. NC State

3. Tennessee

4. Stanford

5. Louisville

6. Indiana

7. Michigan

8. Arizona

9. Texas

10. LSU

11. Iowa State

12. Georgia Tech

13. Georgia

14. UConn

15. Baylor

16. Notre Dame

17. Maryland

18. Oregon

19. BYU

20. Oklahoma

21. Duke

22. Kansas State

23. DePaul

24. North Carolina

25. Florida