Shelby Tilton and USC are ranked No. 20 after beating Stanford on Sunday.

Penn, USC Join Nike/USA Lacrosse Division I Women's Top 20

April 10, 2023

Beth Ann Mayer

USC Athletics

There are now only two unbeaten teams in Division I, and both are in the top three of the Nike/USA Lacrosse Division I Women’s Top 20.

No. 1 Syracuse remains the Division I frontrunner for the fourth week in a row. The Orange blew by Clemson 19-10 on Saturday. An anticipated, ESPNU-televised matchup with reigning ACC and national champion No. 4 North Carolina awaits Saturday in Chapel Hill.

The second undefeated, No. 3 Denver, responded with championship-like composure to a pull away from UConn, winning 14-9. The Pioneers are 13-0 and have yet to give up double-digit goals. UConn’s nine goals were the most the Pios have allowed in a game this season.

The rest of the top eight stayed put. But shakeups in the middle of the pack headline the rest of this week’s rankings. UMass beat Duquesne for its 11th straight win, making the Minutewomen one of the week’s biggest movers (No. 16 to No. 13). And Michigan edged now-No. 19 Penn State to jump three spots. Penn is ranked for the first time in 2023 at No. 15 after a dominant 16-6 performance against Yale, which is down two places to No. 16 despite a one-goal win over now-No. 17 Army on Tuesday. The Quakers are the lone undefeated team in the Ivy League.

USC also enters at No. 20.

NIKE/USA LACROSSE
DIVISION I WOMEN’S TOP 20

	April 10, 2023	W/L	Prev	Next
1	Syracuse	14-0	1	4/15 at No. 4 North Carolina
2	Northwestern	13-1	2	4/15 at Ohio State
3	Denver	13-0	3	4/14 vs. Stanford
4	North Carolina	10-2	4	4/11 at East Carolina
5	Boston College	10-3	5	4/11 at Boston U
6	James Madison	13-1	6	4/16 vs. Cincinnati
7	Stony Brook	9-2	7	4/12 at Rutgers
8	Maryland	12-3	8	4/13 at No. 19 Penn State
9	Virginia	10-4	12	4/15 at No. 5 Boston College
10	Notre Dame	8-4	9	4/10 at Butler
11	Florida	9-3	10	4/12 at Liberty
12	Loyola	10-2	11	4/12 at Princeton
13	UMass	12-1	16	4/15 at VCU
14	Michigan	10-5	17	4/13 vs. Johns Hopkins
15	Penn	7-4	NR	4/15 vs. Cornell
16	Yale	9-3	14	4/15 at Harvard
17	Army	12-1	13	4/15 at No. 12 Loyola
18	Clemson	10-5	15	4/15 at Virginia Tech
19	Penn State	10-4	18	4/13 vs. No. 8 Maryland
20	USC	11-3	NR	4/14 at Colorado

Also considered (alphabetical order): Duke (6-7), Marquette (12-1), Navy (10-3), Richmond (11-3), Stanford (7-6), UConn (8-4), Villanova (9-4), Virginia Tech (7-6)

Nike/USA Lacrosse Rankings

Division I Men | Division I Women
Division II Men | Division II Women
Division III Men | Division III Women

HOT

UMass (+3)

In an up-and-down middle-of-the-pack, the 12-1 Minutewomen have remained consistent. A 17-5 rout of Duquesne was the 11th straight for UMass under first-year head coach Jana Drummond. The Minutewomen rank in the top 10 nationally in scoring offense (15.77 goals per game) and have scored double-digit goals all but once this season.

Michigan (+3)

The Wolverines edged Penn State 10-7 on Saturday, with Jill Smith pouring in four goals. A date with Hopkins to end the regular season on Thursday looms large.

NOT

Duke (was No. 19)

The Blue Devils are 2-6 in their last eight games and 1-6 in the ACC. An upset loss to Virginia Tech last week moved them down in the rankings. A loss to Virginia on Saturday moves them out.

Navy (was No. 20)

Navy is chock-full of young talent, notably freshman Ava Yovino, one of the best rookies in the nation on offense and in the circle. And the Mids’ 10-3 record is even more impressive given that they lost their top three players in scoring and on the draw from 2022. But a one-goal loss to unranked Boston U, which entered 1-4 in the Patriot League, drops them back into “also considered” territory for now.

PREVIOUS RANKINGS

Written By

Beth Ann Mayer

Beth Ann Mayer is a Long Island-based writer. She joined USA Lacrosse in 2022 after freelancing for Inside Lacrosse for five years. She first began covering the game as a student at Syracuse. When she's not writing, you can find her wrangling her husband, two children and surplus of pets.

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