Unbeaten South Carolina and Caitlin Clark’s Iowa squad sit atop this week’s Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll, followed by No. 3 Southern California with its highest ranking since 1986.
The Gamecocks (32-0) once again received all 35 first-place votes on Monday after winning the Southeastern Conference tournament and coach Dawn Staley’s crew will enter the NCAA Tournament undefeated for a second straight year.
Clark rallied the No. 2 Hawkeyes (29-4) to a 94-89 overtime win against Nebraska in Sunday’s Big Ten tournament final. The NCAA’s all-time leading scorer in Division I finished with 34 points, 12 assists, seven rebounds and three steals as Iowa overcame an eight-point hole with 2:38 left in regulation.
The Trojans (26-5) achieved their highest ranking in 38 years after knocking off Stanford to win the Pac-12 tourney for the first time since 2014. The Cardinal (28-5) fell two spots to No. 4 after Sunday’s 74-61 setback.
Texas (28-5) checks in at No. 5, with UCLA (25-6), Ohio State (25-5), LSU (28-5), Notre Dame (26-6) and UConn (28-5) rounding out the top 10.
The rest of the Top 25:
11. North Carolina State
12. Oregon State
13. Virginia Tech
14. Gonzaga
15. Indiana
16. Kansas State
17. Oklahoma
18. Colorado
19. Baylor
20. Utah
21. UNLV
22. Syracuse
23. Creighton
24. Louisville
25. Fairfield
–Field Level Media
