March 5, 2001
SEATTLE, Wash. - Tennessee's first loss in more than two months sent Notre Dame back to No. 1 Monday in The Associated Press women's basketball poll. Notre Dame returned to the position it held for four weeks in January and February, receiving 33 of a possible 40 first-place votes and 992 points from the national media panel. Tennessee, which had been No. 1 for two weeks, had an 18-game winning streak broken by a 77-74 loss to Vanderbilt in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament. The Lady Vols (29-2), whose other loss was to Connecticut on Dec. 30, fell to third with two first-place votes and 927 points. Connecticut climbed one spot to second, receiving five first-place votes and 951 points. Notre Dame moved to No. 1 for the first time in school history after a Jan. 15 victory over Connecticut, which had been No. 1 until then. The Irish stayed on top until falling to second after 54-53 loss at Rutgers on Feb. 17. Notre Dame was 27-1 heading into a Big East tournament semifinal with Virginia Tech on Monday night. Connecticut (26-2) played Rutgers in the other Big East semifinal. Conference tournaments and late regular-season games shuffled the poll, but Washington was the only newcomer, returning at No. 22 after being out for two weeks. Georgia beat Vanderbilt to win the SEC tournament and moved up two spots to fourth. Duke was fifth and Louisiana Tech sixth, followed by Oklahoma, Rutgers, Purdue and Vanderbilt. The No. 10 ranking is the highest since Jan. 27, 1998 for Vanderbilt, which was 15th last week. Texas Tech jumped three places to 11th, Xavier held at No. 12 and Iowa State fell three spots to 13th after losing to Texas Tech in its last regular-season game. Utah was 14th and Florida 15th, followed by Southwest Missouri State, Iowa and LSU and North Carolina State in a tie for 18th. Colorado was 20th. Penn State, Washington, Clemson, Baylor and Wisconsin held the final five spots. Washington (19-7), which leads the Pac-10 by one game with two to play, broke into the poll for the first time this season at No. 23 on Feb. 12. The Huskies dropped out the following week after losing at Oregon but have won three straight since. Arizona State dropped out from No. 22 after losing road games to Oregon and Oregon State last week. The Sun Devils had been ranked for four weeks. Iowa made the biggest jump within the poll, vaulting from 23rd to 17th after beating Purdue in the championship game of the Big Ten tournament. The Hawkeyes (20-9) entered the poll three weeks ago for the first time since 1998. They have won 12 of their last 13. North Carolina State and Colorado both moved up three places. Wisconsin, which lost to Illinois in the Big Ten quarterfinal, fell from 20th to 25th for the biggest drop within the poll. Florida tumbled four places to 15th after losing to Arkansas in the SEC quarterfinals.
By CHUCK SCHOFFNER
The Women's Top Twenty Five
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' women's college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through March 4, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week's ranking:
Record Pts Pv
1. Notre Dame (33) 27-1 992 2
2. Connecticut (5) 26-2 951 3
3. Tennessee (2) 29-2 927 1
4. Georgia 26-5 829 6
5. Duke 27-3 820 4
6. Louisiana Tech 26-4 796 5
7. Oklahoma 24-4 788 7
8. Rutgers 22-6 671 9
9. Purdue 26-6 627 8
10. Vanderbilt 21-9 605 15
11. Texas Tech 22-5 569 14
12. Xavier 26-2 550 12
13. Iowa St. 22-5 543 10
14. Utah 25-2 506 13
15. Florida 23-5 491 11
16. SW Missouri St. 22-5 349 18
17. Iowa 20-9 321 23
18. LSU 19-10 287 16
18. N.C. State 20-9 287 21
20. Colorado 20-7 227 17
21. Penn St. 19-9 144 19
22. Washington 19-7 105 -
23. Clemson 20-9 95 25
24. Baylor 20-7 94 24
25. Wisconsin 18-9 77 20
Others receiving votes: Arizona St. 62, Drake 40, Virginia Tech 32,
Villanova 30, Toledo 28, Michigan 21, Colorado St. 20, George Washington 19,
St. Mary's, Cal. 18, Arkansas 15, Missouri 15, Texas 15, TCU 13, Idaho St. 11,
Wis.-Green Bay 4, Arizona 3, Oregon 2, Maryland 1.
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