South Carolina began the brand new yr the place it completed off 2023 — atop The Associated Press girls’s basketball ballot.
The Gamecocks obtained 34 of the 35 first-place votes from a nationwide media panel Monday. They had been unanimous the earlier six weeks.
UCLA obtained the opposite No. 1 vote after beating then-No. 6 USC in a Los Angeles showdown Saturday. The No. 2 Bruins have now defeated 4 top-25 groups this season, with two wins coming at impartial websites and one on the street.
Syracuse entered the ballot at No. 25, marking its first look since Jan. 18, 2021. The Orange beat then-No. 13 Notre Dame on Sunday. The Irish fell to sixteenth. The Orange (11-1) have misplaced this season solely to Maryland and can subsequent play at North Carolina on Thursday. Syracuse is off to its finest begin since 2017-18 and the Orange hope to make the NCAA Tournament for the primary time since 2021.
The Tar Heels fell out of the Top 25, ending a 34-week streak within the ballot. That was the seventh-longest energetic run.
No. 3 North Carolina State and Iowa adopted UCLA. Colorado moved up three spots to No. 5 after a win over then-No. 12 Utah.
Baylor climbed within the rankings to No. 6, up 4 locations after a win over then-No. 5 Texas. The Longhorns, who misplaced star Rori Harmon to an ACL harm final week, dropped to tenth.
No. 7 LSU, Stanford and USC adopted the Bears.
CLIMBING THE RECORD BOOKS
Iowa star Caitlin Clark moved into fifth on the Division I all-time scoring checklist after a 35-point effort in a win over Minnesota. She has 3,149 factors and trails Kelsey Plum (3,527), Kelsey Mitchell (3,402), Jackie Stiles (3,393) and Brittney Griner (3,283).
Clark additionally moved to No. 1 on the Big Ten all-time assists checklist with 904. She handed Samantha Prahalis’ 901 and has helped the Hawkeyes to a 10-game successful streak, their longest since 2004-05.
RISING HUSKIES
UConn moved up three spots to No. 12 after routing then-No. 18 Marquette on Sunday. The Huskies steadily have climbed within the ballot after falling to a 30-year low of seventeenth in early December. Next up for Geno Auriemma’s group is a visit to Nebraska to face No. 21 Creighton on Wednesday.
