UConn still No. 1 in AP women’s poll after passing tests

Published 12:57 pm Monday, December 24, 2018

NEW YORK — After a week off for exams, UConn faced two stiff tests on the court and passed both of them.

The top-ranked Huskies rallied to beat Oklahoma and topped No. 14 California to remain unbeaten this season. UConn won both games by fewer than 10 points — the first time in 10 years the team had back-to-back victories by fewer than 10.

UConn was followed in the AP Top 25 on Monday by Notre Dame, Louisville, Maryland and Oregon. The Ducks knocked off previously undefeated Mississippi State last Tuesday to move up two spots in the poll voted on by a 31-member national media panel.

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Stanford, Baylor, Mississippi State, North Carolina State and Tennessee round out the first 10. The Lady Bulldogs dropped four spots after suffering a loss to the Ducks.

Every team is off until Thursday, with Top 25 games returning on Friday.

Here are a few other tidbits from the poll:

PAC-12 POWER: The Pac-12 has gotten off to a great start this season with not only the expected top teams like Oregon, Stanford, Oregon State and Cal doing well, but some of the other programs have gotten off to strong starts. Utah is 11-0 while Southern Cal, Arizona and Colorado are all 10-1.

“It’s going to be a dogfight to win this thing,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said. “It’s been really impressive as the teams that are supposed to be pretty good have delivered and they are good. The other teams are doing really well and that’s what cool. That’s what’s going to make the conference so much tougher is that everyone’s good.”

899 and COUNTING: Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw earned her 899th career victory on Saturday by beating Marquette. The Hall of Fame coach has her first chance at No. 900 against Lehigh — the school where she began her illustrious head coaching career. She won 88 games there.