South Carolina was the unanimous No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll Monday after a pair of victories to kick off its national championship repeat bid while Kansas State joined the top 10 and Stanford and Oregon cracked the first regular-season rankings of the season.
The Gamecocks earned a hard-fought six-point win over Michigan in Las Vegas to open the season and beat then-No. 9 NC State on Sunday by 14. The two victories made the defending champions a unanimous choice from the 31-member national media panel. In the preseason poll, No. 2 UConn got two first-place votes and No. 3 USC one.
The top eight teams in the rankings remained unchanged with Texas and UCLA rounding out the top five. Notre Dame, LSU and Iowa State were next, with Oklahoma ninth and Kansas State 10th. NC State dropped to 13th.
Former Pac-12 schools Stanford and Oregon entered the rankings after impressive starts to their season. The No. 24 Cardinal, under new coach Kate Paye, went 3-0 last week, winning by an average of 41 points. They had been ranked in the preseason poll every year since 2000 until this season.
The No. 25 Ducks come into the poll on the strength of a two-point home win over then-No. 12 Baylor. The victory snapped a 13-game losing streak to ranked opponents for Oregon. The Bears dropped to 17th.
Moving on up
Maryland climbed seven spots to No. 11 after an impressive 85-80 victory over then-No. 11 Duke. This was the Terrapins’ first matchup against the Blue Devils since they defeated their former ACC rival 65-55 in the Sweet 16 in 2015. The victory came nearly a year after the Terrapins saw their 13-year run in the poll end last season. Duke fell to 16th.
Falling out
Creighton, Indiana and Florida State all fell out of the poll after early losses. The Bluejays lost at South Dakota State, the Hoosiers at home to Harvard and the Seminoles at Illinois. The Illini joined the poll at No. 23.
Tying greatness
UConn coach Geno Auriemma is one victory behind retired Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer for most career wins with 1,216. He could tie VanDerveer when the Huskies play No. 15 North Carolina on Friday night. If they win then, the potential record-breaking win could come at home Nov. 20 against Fairleigh Dickinson. The Stanford court was named in VanDerveer’s honor Sunday.
Game of the week
No. 16 Duke at South Dakota State, Sunday. Coach Kara Lawson is challenging her team early with three of the Blue Devils’ first four games on the road. Duke opened at Liberty before playing at Maryland.
