Baylor and USC 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 and replaced 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 No. 8.
While USC will be missing star JuJu Watkins all season as she recovers from an ACL tear suffered in 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.
Connecticut, 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 face UCLA on Monday night in Sacramento, Calif., an NCAA Tournament regional site this season.
Maryland moved up one place to ninth. N.C. State, which besides falling to USC beat Tennessee by three points in its opener, dropped to 10th. The Lady Vols fell to 12th and the Blue Devils to 15th.
Notre Dame dropped three spots to No. 18 despite winning its first two games against Fairleigh Dickinson and Chicago State by a combined 104 points.
In and out
- No. 25 Washington entered the Top 25 for the first time in two years. The Huskies host Montana on Monday night before heading to Utah on Saturday.
- Richmond dropped out of the poll after losing at Texas.
Banner raising
UConn unveiled its 12th championship banner Sunday when the Huskies beat Florida State. The team took the court before the game wearing custom white-and-gold tracksuits that read “National Champions XII” on the back.
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Happy anniversary
The women’s basketballl poll celebrates its 50th anniversary this month. The first rankings came out in late November 1976. Founded by Mel Greenberg, the poll was a coaches poll until 1994-95, when national media began voting on it.
Games of the week
- No. 2 South Carolina at No. 9 USC, Saturday: The Gamecocks 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 in Los Angeles, and next year’s game will be played in Greenville, S.C.
- No. 17 TCU at No. 10 N.C. State, Sunday: The Wolfpack continue their difficult nonconference schedule against the Horned Frogs, who added transfer Olivia Miles from Notre Dame in the offseason.