Baylor and Soutbern California jumped into the top 10 of The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll after big opening week victories.
The Bears began the season with a victory in Paris over then-No. 7 Duke to replace the Blue Devils in that spot Monday, climbing nine places. The Trojans edged then-No. 9 N.C. State by a point Sunday to move up 10 spots to eighth overall.
While USC will be missing star JuJu Watkins all season as she recovers from an ACL tear suffered last March, coach Lindsay Gottlieb’s team has a new young star in Jazzy Davidson, who hit the go-ahead shot with 8.2 seconds left.
UConn, South, Carolina, UCLA and Texas remained the top four teams in the poll after relatively easy opening week wins. The defending champion Huskies received 30 first-place votes from a national media panel while the Gamecocks got the other two.
LSU and Oklahoma stayed at fifth and six. The Sooners lost 73-59 to UCLA on Monday night in Sacramento, California, a site of one of the NCAA regionals next spring.
Maryland moved up one place to ninth. N.C. State, which besides falling to USC beat Tennessee by three points in the opener, dropped to 10th. The Lady Vols fell to 12th and the Blue Devils 15th.
In and out
No. 25 Washington entered the Top 25 for the first time in two years. The Huskies routed Montana 87-56 on Monday night. Richmond dropped out of the poll after losing at Texas.
Banner raising
UConn unveiled its 12th championship banner on Sunday when the Huskies beat Florida State. The team took to the court before the game wearing custom white-and-gold tracksuits that read “National Champions XII” on the back.
Happy anniversary
The women’s basketballl poll celebrates its 50th anniversary this month with the first rankings coming out in late November 1976. Founded by Mel Greenberg, the poll was a coaches’ poll until 1994-95 when it became one voted on by national media.
Games of the week
No. 2 South Carolina at No. 9 USC, Saturday. The Gamecocks will head west to face the Trojans in a home-and-home series dubbed “The Real SC”. Saturday’s game will be played at Crypto.com Arena and next year’s game will be played in Greenville, South Carolina.
No. 17 TCU at No. 10 N.C. State, Sunday. The Wolfpack continue their difficult non-conference schedule facing the Horned Frogs, who added transfer Olivia Miles from Notre Dame this offseason.
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