Women's College Basketball

Women's AP Top 25: Iowa moves up to No. 3 behind South Carolina, Stanford

Published Mar. 4, 2024 12:55 p.m. ET

Stanford and Iowa jumped up behind top-ranked South Carolina in The Associated Press Top 25 women's college basketball poll as the top 10 got a shuffle on the eve of conference tournaments, while Fairfield cracked the rankings for the first time in school history.

Stanford moved back up to No. 2 after a weekend sweep of Oregon State and Oregon. Iowa knocked off then-No. 2 Ohio State on Sunday behind Caitlin Clark, who became the NCAA Division I scoring leader during the game. The Big Ten champion Buckeyes fell to fourth.

Caitlin Clark breaks Pete Maravich’s NCAA basketball scoring record

While Iowa has been in the Top 25 all season, Fairfield made its first appearance, coming in at No. 25. The Stags (26-1) have won 24 straight games and are the only team in the country besides undefeated South Carolina with one or fewer losses.

"Its a huge moment. This place is special," Fairfield coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis said. "One of the major reasons I came here is that it was a program on the brink of being on the national stage. We'll for sure celebrate it. We talk a lot about a team enjoying the moment and being in the moment. This is a big moment."

The Gamecocks are in a familiar spot atop the poll after finishing their regular season undefeated for the second consecutive year. Dawn Staley's squad is the top seed in the SEC Tournament this week.

Southern California was fifth, its highest ranking since 1994 when the team was fourth. Texas dropped three spots to sixth.

UCLA, LSU and UConn were next. North Carolina State moved up two places to 10th, passing ACC regular-season champion Virginia Tech, which fell six places to 11th.

Here's the full top 25:

1. South Carolina
2. Stanford
3. Iowa
4. Ohio State
5. USC
6. Texas
7. UCLA
8. LSU
9. UConn
10. North Carolina State
11. Virginia Tech
12. Indiana
13. Oregon State
14. Notre Dame
15. Gonzaga
16. Kansas State
17. Baylor
18. Colorado
19. Oklahoma
20. Syracuse
21. Creighton
22. Utah
23. UNLV
24. Louisville
25. Fairfield

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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