The 2021-2022 NCAA Women’s Basketball season is off to a hot start as the cold winter months begin to arrive. As we all begin to prepare for the gift giving time of the year we call Christmas, some of the college women’s basketball programs around the country have already received some early presents to start while delivering a ton of excitement and happiness to their fans all over the country.

As you start to think about the Top 10 NCAA Basketball Women’s Teams in 2021-2022, the list of talented programs are loaded led by the 9-0 South Carolina Lady Gamecocks who have been red hot to start the season. 

Meanwhile other NCAA women’s college basketball teams this season include the likes of NC State, UConn, Stanford, Baylor and Arizona to name just a few while teams such as BYU, Tennessee and Duke make solid cases based on their hot starts. 

With that said, here is our list of the Top 10 NCAA Women’s College Basketball Teams of December 2021:

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Honorable Mention

Duke Blue Devils

Another team deserving of a mention as one of the Top 10 NCAA BB Women’s Teams is the Duke Blue Devils who have started off the season going undefeated in eight contests. Over that stretch the team has knocked off 8th ranked Iowa as well as Alabama and Dayton. 

The team is led by Shayeann Day Wilson and Lexi Gordon who are combining to average more than 24 points a game and over five rebounds. Up next for the Blue Devils is a difficult game against top ranked South Carolina.

Texas Longhorns

The one-loss Texas Longhorns are still strong atop the Big 12 after starting the season winning six of their first seven contests including an impressive 76-60 win over 17th ranked Texas A&M on the road. Their only loss of the season came at the hands of Tennessee 74-70 when the Volunteers were ranked 16th in the country. 

The Longhorns are a well rounded team featuring a ton of depth including the likes of DeYona Gaston, Joanne Allen-Taylor and Kyndall Hunter to name a few. Up next is Idaho before a December 19th matchup against 6th ranked Arizona.

Top 10 College Rankings

10. BYU Cougars

When looking at overall records it is hard not to like what we have seen from the BYU Cougars. The Cougars entered the season unranked and have been red hot to start the season winning all eight of their contests to open the season. Among those included wins against Arizona State as well as over 17th ranked Florida State and 22nd ranked West Virginia. 

The Cougars are led by Shaylee Gonzales who is averaging 19.3 points per game to go along with five rebounds while Paisley Harding is averaging 17.3 points per game. Up next is a showdown with Oklahoma before squaring off against Washington State.

9. Louisville Cardinals

Sitting at number nine on the Top 10 NCAA BB Women’s Teams is the Louisville Cardinals out of the ACC conference. The Cardinals opened up the season with a 61-59 heartbreaking loss to 22nd ranked Arizona. 

Following that loss the Cardinals have won seven straight matchups including a blowout 70-48 win over 12th ranked Michigan as well as wins over Belmont and Washington. Up next is a matchup against 14th ranked Kentucky.

8. Tennessee Lady Volunteers

The SEC has some very talented women’s basketball programs with the Tennessee Lady Volunteers sitting near the top of that list after starting the season with eight straight wins. The Volunteers have picked up critical wins against Virginia Tech, Kansas and Oklahoma State as well as wins against 25th ranked USF and 12th ranked Texas. 

At the front of their success is Jordan Horston who is averaging 16.4 points, 9.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. Up next is a matchup against Georgia State before a showdown with 4th ranked Stanford.

7. Maryland Terps

When you are playing a loaded schedule that features a ton of talented teams across the country the chances for losses will be present. Despite the difficult schedule to start, the Maryland Terrapins women’s basketball team has won eight of their first 10 contests including wins over Baylor and Miami while both their losses came against Top 10 ranked teams NC State and Stanford. 

The Terps are carried by their high scoring offense that ranks 10th in all of college basketball averaging 83.4 points per game. Leading that charge is Angel Reese who is averaging 18.8 points and 10.4 rebounds per game as well as Chloe Bibby (11.5 points per game) and Ashley Owusu (17.6 points per game). Up next is a matchup against Purdue before squaring off with top overall ranked team South Carolina.

6. Stanford Cardinals

Out West, the Stanford Lady Cardinals are as good of a team as any in all of women’s college basketball and a well deserving team of a spot on the Top 10 BB Women’s Teams list. 

While there are other teams with fewer losses, the Cardinals have played a much more difficult schedule. A schedule that included losses against 25th ranked Texas and 18th ranked USF as well as wins over #2 Maryland and #4 Indiana. Up next is a matchup against Pacific and UCD before a Top 25 Showdown with Tennessee.

5. Arizona Wildcats

One of the last unbeaten teams within the Top 25 NCAA Women’s Basketball rankings, the Arizona Wildcats have started the season winning seven straight contests including a 61-59 over then 8th ranked Louisville Cardinals. It is hard to look past the Lady Wildcats after the start they have put together to the 2021-22 campaign. 

The Wildcats are led by senior forward Cate Reese who has posted at least 14 points in five of the team’s first seven games while averaging 13.7 points per contests. Up next is a matchup against North Dakota State.

4. UConn Huskies

Only thing holding the former semifinalist in the Final Four UConn Huskies back from a higher ranking is the lack of games they have played this season. The Huskies have started off the 2021-2022 NCAA schedule winning five of their first six games with their only loss coming against South Carolina. The Huskies have been able to bounce back winning games against Seton Hall and 24th ranked Notre Dame. 

Unfortunately the team will be without All-American candidate Paige Bueckers who is expected to be out for up to eight weeks. Bueckers was leading the team averaging 21.2 points a game to go with 5.5 rebounds and 6.2 assists. Next up for the Huskies is Georgia Tech before matchups against UCLA and Louisville.

3. Baylor Bears

All the Baylor Lady Bears do is win games and that has been the case for much of the 2021-22 NCAA Women’s Basketball schedule. The Bears entered the second week of December ranked near the top in the country among all women’s basketball teams after winning eight of their first nine contests to start the season. 

Their only loss of the season came against the 8th ranked Maryland Terps but the team has since rebounded winning six straight contests. Nalyssa Smith is carrying the load averaging the 24th most points (19.9 per game) and the most rebounds (13.6 per game).  Up next for the Bears is the 13th ranked Michigan Wolverines. 

2. NC State Wolfpack

It is hard not like what we all have seen from the ladies basketball team at North Carolina State. The Wolfpack opened up the season with a disappointing loss to top seeded South Carolina but have been red hot since winning eight straight contests including wins over the Florida Gators, the 2nd ranked Maryland Terps and the 8th ranked Indiana Hoosiers. 

The Wolfpack are led by senior center Elissa Cunane and guard Diamond Johnson. Cunane is averaging 12.7 points per game to go along with 7.6 rebounds while Johnson is leading the team averaging 13.4 points a game while adding 5.4 rebounds. Up next for the Wolfpack is Pittsburgh before matchups against Saint Marys, Georgia and Virginia. 

1. South Carolina Gamecocks

The South Carolina Gamecocks continue to be one of the hottest women’s college basketball teams in the country. After starting the season off with an impressive 66-57 win over the 6th ranked NC State squad, the Gamecocks have yet to lose a game winning eight straight games to push their record to 9-0 on the year. 

Over that stretch included wins over three Top 10 ranked programs including NC State as well as Oregon who was ranked 9th and UConn who was ranked 2nd. On the year the Gamecocks ranked 9th in points allowed, 4th in total rebounds per game and 2nd in rebound margin. Up next for the Gamecocks is Maryland before heading to take on Duke.

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Related Links:

• Top 25 NCAA Men’s Basketball Rankings 2021 – 2022 Preseason
• Top 25 NCAA Women’s Basketball Rankings 2021 – 2022 Preseason
• Top 10 College Basketball Rankings – December 2021