South Carolina remained No. 1 in the Associated Press Women’s Basketball Poll on Monday despite their second loss of the season.
The Gamecocks (29-2) lost to Kentucky in the Southeastern Conference title game on Sunday but remained at the top of the poll, passing No. 2 Stanford.
South Carolina received 17 first-place votes from a 30-member national media panel. Stanford, who won the Pac-12 tournament, received 11 first-place ballots. North Carolina State came in 3rd with the top two votes. Baylor and Louisville rounded out the top five.
The Gamecocks’ loss snapped an 18-game winning streak for the team, which went 11-0 against ranked rivals this season.
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“We put ourselves in a really good position. Going to the NCAA Tournament is not great, but we have a lot of good feelings throughout the season that we will build on,” South Carolina coach Don. Staley said after Sunday’s loss. “The end goal is still ahead and we will get together and try not to be sad faces that are in the dressing room today in the next couple of weeks.”
This is the second time this season that the Gamecocks are still No. 1 after losing a game.
Kentucky finished 16th in the poll after also beating the then number. 6 LSU and No. 18 Tennessee in the SEC Tournament. Kentucky occupied the first 11 weeks of the season before dropping out in mid-January. The Wildcats won 10 consecutive games and returned to the top 25 according to the AP.
The University of Connecticut ranked sixth, while Texas and Iowa moved up four places from 12th, with LSU and Iowa rounding out the top ten. The Big 12 is the only Power 5 conference that hasn’t started its tournament yet.
| COMMAND | WRITE DOWN |
|---|---|
| 1. South Carolina (17) | 29-2 |
| 2. Stanford (11) | 28-3 |
| 3. North Carolina (2) | 29-3 |
| 4. Baylor | 25-5 |
| 5. Louisville | 25-4 |
| 6. Yukonn | 24-5 |
| 7. Texas | 23-6 |
| 8. Iowa | 23-7 |
| 9. LSU | 25-5 |
| 10. Iowa | 25-5 |
| 11. Indiana | 22-8 |
| 12. Michigan | 22-6 |
| 13. Maryland | 21-8 |
| 14. Ohio State | 23-6 |
| 15. BYU | 25-2 |
| 16. Kentucky | 19-11 |
| 17. Virginia Tech | 23-9 |
| 18. North Carolina | 23-6 |
| 19. Tennessee | 23-8 |
| 20. Arizona | 20-7 |
| 21. Oklahoma | 23-7 |
| 22. Notre Dame | 22-8 |
| 23. FGKU | 27-2 |
| 24. Princeton | 22-4 |
| 25. UKF | 22-3 |
UCF earned its first ranking by finishing 25th in the poll. The Knights have won 10 consecutive games and are in first place in the American Athletic Conference tournament starting Tuesday.
Florida, Georgia and Georgia Tech fell out of the top 25.
The season’s final poll will be released next Monday, the day after the NCAA announces the season’s 68 team roster.
TIGER’S EYE
Princeton entered the top 25 for the first time this season in 24th place, behind the regular-season undefeated Ivy League. The Tigers are 22-4 and have won 15 games in a row. Princeton last played the final five weeks of the 2019/20 season. The Ivy League did not play sports last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are very grateful to be playing this year and being together again,” said Princeton coach Carla Berube. “It has been more than 18 months that we have not played any kind of organized basketball together. In November and December we were trying to figure everything out and the team would come to work every day and work really, really hard.”
GAME OF THE WEEK
The Big 12 championship game is on Sunday, and Baylor is looking to win the regular season and tournament crowns again this year.