Even though South Carolina remains No. 1 for the 30th consecutive week, there is a lot of movement in the latest AP Top 25 women's basketball poll. The unranked USC Trojans pulled off an upset over then-No. 2 Stanford on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Baylor Lady Bears fell out of the Top 25 for the first time since 2004 after losses to Oklahoma State and West Virginia.
USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb told the crowd at Galen Center that her team was "building something special" after their win over Stanford. The Trojans dominated from the beginning, as they held the Cardinal to only four points in the first quarter. The loss was Stanford's first in a Pac-12 game since January 2021. They dropped two spots to No. 4.
Baylor, No. 18 last week, had been a regular in the AP Top 25 poll for 19 years dating back to Jan. 5, 2004. They had a streak of 365 consecutive poll appearances. Only two other teams, Tennessee (565) and UConn (556 -- still active), have seen longer streaks. The Lady Bears' run also included a 21-week streak at No. 1 through 2011–12.
The only three undefeated teams remaining in the country are South Carolina, Ohio State and LSU, which are all in the top 3 this week. Ohio State and LSU are No. 2 and No. 3, respectively -- the best rankings for both since 2006. Both of their 18-0 starts are also program records.
NC State dropped nine spots to No. 20 after losses to Florida State and then-No. 22 North Carolina. The 56-47 result on Sunday -- which happened in front of UNC's first sellout crowd since the 2014-15 season -- helped the Tar Heels move five places up to No. 17.
AP Women's Basketball Top 25
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' women's college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sunday, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week's ranking:
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Carolina (28) | 16-0 | 700 | 1 |
| 2 | Ohio State | 18-0 | 670 | 3 |
| 3 | LSU | 18-0 | 604 | 5 |
| 4 | Stanford | 17-2 | 601 | 2 |
| 5 | UConn | 15-2 | 600 | 4 |
| 6 | Indiana | 16-1 | 582 | 6 |
| 7 | Notre Dame | 14-2 | 546 | 7 |
| 8 | Utah | 15-1 | 477 | 10 |
| 9 | UCLA | 15-3 | 428 | 8 |
| 10 | Iowa | 14-4 | 414 | 12 |
| 11 | Maryland | 14-4 | 413 | 9 |
| 12 | Virginia Tech | 14-3 | 391 | 13 |
| 13 | Duke | 16-1 | 361 | 16 |
| 14 | Michigan | 15-3 | 341 | 17 |
| 15 | Oklahoma | 14-2 | 304 | 19 |
| 16 | Gonzaga | 17-2 | 249 | 20 |
| 17 | North Carolina | 12-5 | 237 | 22 |
| 18 | Iowa State | 11-4 | 205 | 15 |
| 19 | Arizona | 14-4 | 185 | 14 |
| 20 | North Carolina State | 13-5 | 139 | 12 |
| 21 | Illinois | 15-3 | 120 | 24 |
| 22 | Villanova | 16-3 | 94 | 25 |
| 23 | Oregon | 13-5 | 75 | 21 |
| 24 | Colorado | 14-3 | 65 | NR |
| 25 | Texas | 13-5 | 62 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Baylor 51, Middle Tennessee 39, Arkansas 34, South Florida 24, Miami (FL) 23, Florida State 23, Tennessee 19, USC 7, Louisville 4, Creighton 4, Kansas 3, West Virginia 2
