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Women's AP Top 25: Caitlin Clark, Iowa back to No. 2; South Carolina unanimous No. 1
Caitlin Clark and Iowa climbed back to No. 2 in The Associated Press Top 25 women's college basketball poll Monday as the star guard moved within striking distance of the NCAA career scoring record.
It’s the second time in a few weeks that the Hawkeyes have been second in the poll, a spot that hasn’t been kind to teams the past month. UCLA, Iowa and Kansas State have all taken turns in the second position since Jan. 8 and none of the schools could hold that ranking for more than a week at a time.
While No. 2 has been a revolving door lately, South Carolina has maintained a strong grip atop the poll, once again the unanimous No. 1 team from a 35-member national media panel.
The Gamecocks (21-0) will host Missouri and No. 11 UConn this week. Dawn Staley’s squad will play those games without star center Kamilla Cardoso, who left for a week to play with the Brazilian national team at an Olympic qualifying tournament.
Iowa has held the No. 2 spot twice before this season, including the week of Jan. 15 when the Hawkeyes lost to Ohio State.
Clark, who is only 66 points away from becoming the all-time leading scorer in NCAA women’s basketball history, will try and make it a longer stay this time around. She will lead the Hawkeyes against Penn State and Nebraska this week with Kelsey Plum’s record in view.
Caitlin Clark GOES OFF for 38 points in Iowa's 93-85 victory over Maryland
No. 3 North Carolina State, No. 4 Colorado and No. 5 Ohio State followed Iowa. It’s the Buckeyes’ best ranking this season.
Stanford fell two spots to sixth after losing to JuJu Watkins and USC . The phenomenal freshman scored 51 points in that game.
Texas vaulted up five places to seventh after beating Baylor and then-No. 2 Kansas State last week. The Wildcats fell to eighth after also losing to Oklahoma, which entered the poll at No. 24. UCLA was ninth and USC climbed five spots to 10th.
Only once in the past 15 years has a team been No. 2 all season long: Stanford in 2009-10. It’s been a volatile spot lately. In the 2018-19 season, the No. 2 position changed 10 times, the most in that span. There have already been seven No. 2 teams this season.
UConn coach Geno Auriemma is one victory away from joining Tara VanDerveer (1,206) and Mike Krzyzewski (1,202) as the only Division I coaches with 1,200 victories. Auriemma’s first chance to reach that milestone is Wednesday when the Huskies host Seton Hall.
North Carolina fell out of the rankings this week despite close losses to NC State and Virginia Tech. The Tar Heels have lost eight games this season, including five to currently ranked teams (South Carolina, Kansas State, UConn, Virginia Tech and NC State). All of those Top 25 losses have been within 12 points. They’ve also beaten four current Top 25 teams (Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Syracuse and Louisville).
Here's the full top 25:
1. South Carolina
2. Iowa
3. North Carolina State
4. Colorado
5. Ohio State
6. Stanford
7. Texas
8. Kansas State
9. UCLA
10. USC
11. UConn
12. Notre Dame
13. LSU
14. Indiana
15. Louisville
16. Virginia Tech
17. Oregon State
18. Baylor
19. Gonzaga
20. Utah
21. Creighton
22. West Virginia
23. Syracuse
24. Oklahoma
25. Princeton
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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