Kansas State jumps to 4th in women’s AP Top 25; South Carolina is still No. 1

Associated Press
Monday, Jan. 22, 2024 1:09 p.m. | Monday, Jan. 22, 2024 1:09 p.m.

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Kansas State head coach Jeff Mittie talks with Emilee Ebert (24) Rebekah Dallinger (14) and Serena Sundell (4) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Texas Tech on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023, in Manhattan, Kan. Kansas State has its best ranking in 21 years after the Wildcats moved up to fourth in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll Monday.

AP

UCLA center Lauren Betts, middle, is congratulated by guards Kiki Rice, left, and Charisma Osborne after Betts scored and was fouled during the second half of the team’s NCAA college basketball game against Colorado on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024, in Boulder, Colo.

AP

Southern California forward Kaitlyn Davis, third from left, battles for control of a loose ball with, from left, Colorado forward Quay Miller, and guards Frida Formann and Kindyll Wetta in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024, in Boulder, Colo.

Kansas State has its best ranking in 21 years after the Wildcats moved up to fourth in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll on Monday.

The Wildcats, who climbed three spots, were last ranked this high in 2003. They have a key Big 12 Conference showdown Monday night at No. 13 Baylor. Kansas State is missing star center Ayoka Lee, who is out for a few weeks with an ankle injury.

South Carolina remained the unanimous choice at No. 1 in the poll, receiving all 35 votes from a national media panel. The Gamecocks cruised to easy wins over Kentucky and Texas A&M. Coach Dawn Staley’s team has a showdown at No. 9 LSU on Thursday night.

There was some shifting in the top 10 this week, with UCLA moving back up to No. 2 after beating Colorado on the road. The Bruins play at No. 16 Utah on Monday night.

The Buffaloes remained in the third spot, thanks to a win over then-No. 6 USC, which fell to 11th after also losing to Utah.

Iowa dropped to fifth after falling in overtime to Ohio State. Hawkeyes star guard Caitlin Clark had a scary moment after the game when she accidentally was run into by a fan who was storming the court to celebrate. Clark said she was OK.

The Buckeyes jumped six spots to No. 12.

No. 6 Stanford, North Carolina State and UConn followed the Hawkeyes.

Hello and goodbye

Syracuse (22), West Virginia (24) and Oregon State (25) entered the rankings this week while Iowa State, Marquette and UNLV dropped out.

1,203 and counting

Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer became the all-time winningest coach in major college basketball, moving past former Duke men’s coach Mike Krzyzewski on Sunday when the Cardinal beat Oregon State.

Close ACC race

Six teams are within a loss of each other at the top of the ACC standings, with Syracuse and North Carolina at 6-1. Louisville is 5-1. Notre Dame, Virginia Tech and N.C. State all have two losses.

Florida State, which dropped eight spots to No. 23 in the poll, had one loss coming into last week before losing to Syracuse and Virginia.