Notre Dame received its reward Monday for beating Connecticut --
a No. 1 ranking for the first time in The Associated Press women's
basketball poll.
The Irish replaced Connecticut atop the poll and ended UConn's
30-week run at No. 1, the second longest in history. The Huskies,
who lost at Notre Dame 92-76 last week, dropped to second.
Notre Dame's highest ranking previously had been third, the
position it held the last six weeks.
"Right now we've made a giant step forward," said Notre Dame
coach Muffet McGraw. "There haven't been that many teams that have
been No. 1 in the country at any time. I think we're just
thrilled to be there right now."
Notre Dame (18-0) followed its win over UConn with a 72-47
victory at Seton Hall and received 40 of a possible 41 first-place
votes from the national media panel. The Irish had 1,024 points to
978 for Connecticut (15-1), which received the other first-place
vote.
Connecticut rebounded from its first loss in 31 games to beat
Old Dominion and Pittsburgh decisively.
Tennessee (18-1) slipped from second to third despite impressive
victories over Georgia and Kentucky after losing Tamika Catchings
to a torn knee ligament.
No. 4 Duke and No. 5 Georgia traded places, and the rest of the
top 10 stayed the same. Purdue was sixth, followed by Iowa State,
Louisiana Tech, Texas Tech and Florida.
The poll had two newcomers, Villanova at No. 24 and Colorado at
No. 25. Villanova made it for the first time in 14 years.
Mississippi State, Baylor and Virginia dropped out.
Mississippi State had been 21st. Baylor and Virginia were tied
for 25th.
Notre Dame became only the seventh different school to hold the
No. 1 ranking since the 1994-95 season and the 19th in the 25-year
history of the poll. It's the first time Connecticut has not been
No. 1 since Purdue led the final poll of the 1998-99 season.
"Hopefully more people will realize that we're a good
program," said Notre Dame center Ruth Riley. "We haven't had the
tradition like Connecticut and Tennessee have, but I think it
proves we're building one of our own."
No. 11 LSU, No. 12 Oklahoma and No. 13 Southwest Missouri State
all moved up one spot, while Rutgers fell three places to 14th
after losing to Villanova.
Clemson, which beat Virginia, Georgia Tech and Florida State
during the past week, jumped five places to 15th. Vanderbilt was
16th, followed by Texas, Xavier, Penn State and Oregon.
Utah, North Carolina State, Arizona, Villanova and Colorado held
the final five places.
Villanova (13-4) appeared for the first time since it was 17th
in the final poll of the 1986-87 season. The victory over Rutgers
was the eighth in the last nine games for the Wildcats, who won
that day without coach Harry Perretta.
Perretta missed the game to be with his wife, Helen, who gave
birth to the couple's second child, a son.
Colorado (13-3) has won eight of nine since coach Ceal Barry
made her players practice in their own clothes after a 92-66 loss
at Iowa. The Buffaloes, who last appeared in the poll Dec. 30,
1997, beat Florida in December and their only loss in the last five
weeks was to Oklahoma.
Mississippi State (10-7), which had been ranked all season and
was as high as 14th, lost to Tennessee, Arkansas and Alabama during
the past week, giving the Lady Bulldogs five losses in six games.
Baylor, which had been ranked for two weeks, lost to Texas A&M --
its third straight defeat after going 13-0. Virginia (13-6), which
lost to Clemson 87-71 at home, had just returned to the poll last
week after a four-week absence.
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