Stanford remained atop The Associated Press women’s basketball poll released Monday and picked up first-place votes, too.
Coach Tara VanDerveer matched Pat Summitt’s all-time win total of 1,098 with a victory on Sunday night over California that kept Stanford unbeaten. She can move break the record Tuesday when her team faces Pacific.
”I just would like to say to everybody, basketball was invented as, always has been and always will be a great team sport,” she said. ”Yes, this might be a record that has Tara VanDerveer’s name next to it but it is about the athletic directors that hired me, gave me a chance, whether it’s been at Ohio State, Idaho or Stanford. It’s been about great, great, great assistant coaches that have worked extremely hard for our program and it’s about having great players. My dad, who passed away over 20 years now, said ‘You don’t win the Kentucky Derby on donkeys.”’
It was the second consecutive week that the Cardinal were the top team in the poll. Stanford received 26 of the 30 first-place votes from a national media panel. Louisville, UConn, N.C. State and South Carolina followed Stanford as the first five remained unchanged in their position.
The Cardinal picked up two first-place votes, including one from Connecticut. The Huskies finally got their season started after being on pause for two weeks because of the virus. UConn routed UMass-Lowell on Saturday.
Arizona remained in sixth place with Oregon moving into a tie with Baylor for seventh. The Ducks routed rival Oregon State, which lost both its games this week to fall six spots to No. 21. Kentucky was ninth and Texas A&M 10th.
ON PAUSE
Second-ranked Louisville, which garnered two first-place votes, was put on pause this week after there was a positive COVID-19 test in the program. The Cardinals’ game against North Carolina this past Sunday was postponed as was their game against Florida State that was set for Thursday.
”We are obviously disappointed, but unfortunately this is all part of the 2020-21 season,” coach Jeff Walz said.
RISING BULLS
Coach Jose Fernandez has gotten South Florida into the Top 25 for the first time this season as the Bulls entered the poll at No. 23. They have an impressive victory over then-No. 6 Mississippi State. The Bulls replaced South Dakota State, which fell out of the poll one week after entering.
KEEP AN EYE ON
Wake Forest has won four of its first five games, including a victory over then-No. 21 Missouri State. The lone loss came against Arkansas. The Demon Deacons, who are just outside the Top 25, have a chance to really make a statement on Thursday against No. 4 N.C. State.
GAME OF THE WEEK
No. 9 Kentucky at No. 24 DePaul on Wednesday. The Blue Demons will play their third Top 25 team this season and hope to pull off their first victory over a ranked opponent after falling to Texas A&M and Louisville. The Wildcats, led by preseason All-American Rhyne Howard, will look to stay unbeaten.
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More AP women’s basketball: https://apnews.com/Womenscollegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25
