St. John's earned a spot in the Associated Press Top 25 women's basketball poll on Monday for the first time since 2015 after matching a program-best 11-0 start. Meanwhile, the top five teams remain unchanged for the third consecutive week.
St. John's is one of 10 undefeated teams remaining in NCAA Division I women's basketball, and the only unbeaten squad in the Big East. The Red Storm is coming off a victory 63-55 victory over Providence. Earlier this month they took down then-No. 13 Creighton.
"It's great to be recognized and I'm proud for our kids," St. John's head coach Joe Tartamella told the AP. "We know we have a long way to go in the year. Obviously to be recognized nationally, you can't take that for granted. It's been a while and to know this group got us back in is pretty cool."
The South Carolina Gamecocks are still the unanimous No. 1. This is the second straight season that the Gamecocks open with a 11-0 record, and the fourth time in head coach Dawn Staley's 15 seasons at the helm of South Carolina.
Another program off to good start is the LSU Tigers. Kim Mulkey's squad is 12-0, undefeated in the non-conference schedule for the first time since the 2002-03 season.
Arkansas climbed four spots after an 83-75 win over Creighton on the road. This is the Razorbacks' best start since 2013. Meanwhile, the Baylor Lady Bears took a 54-75 loss to Arizona on Sunday and dropped six spots in the rankings -- the biggest drop this week.
AP 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) | 11-0 | 700 | 1 |
| 2 | Stanford | 11-1 | 672 | 2 |
| 3 | Ohio State | 11-0 | 627 | 3 |
| 4 | Indiana | 11-0 | 619 | 4 |
| 5 | Notre Dame | 9-1 | 594 | 5 |
| 6 | North Carolina | 9-1 | 529 | 7 |
| 7 | North Carolina State | 11-1 | 514 | 8 |
| 8 | Virginia Tech | 10-1 | 481 | 6 |
| 9 | UConn | 8-2 | 470 | 9 |
| 10 | LSU | 11-0 | 422 | 11 |
| 11 | UCLA | 11-1 | 420 | 10 |
| 12 | Utah | 10-0 | 372 | 13 |
| 13 | Iowa | 9-3 | 370 | 12 |
| 14 | Iowa State | 8-2 | 341 | 14 |
| 15 | Maryland | 9-3 | 296 | 15 |
| 16 | Oregon | 9-1 | 280 | T16 |
| 17 | Arkansas | 13-0 | 256 | 21 |
| 18 | Arizona | 9-1 | 217 | 20 |
| 19 | Michigan | 10-1 | 210 | 19 |
| 20 | Kansas | 10-0 | 187 | 22 |
| 21 | Creighton | 8-2 | 133 | T16 |
| 22 | Gonzaga | 10-2 | 114 | 23 |
| 23 | Oklahoma | 9-1 | 86 | 24 |
| 24 | Baylor | 8-3 | 67 | 18 |
| 25 | St. John's | 11-0 | 27 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Marquette 24, Virginia 21, Louisville 20, Villanova 11, Texas 5, Rice 4, Duke 3, Kansas State 3, Columbia 3, Nebraska 2
