Baylor solidifies hold of women's hoops top spot

New York, NY – Baylor's victory over Notre Dame on Sunday clearly established the Lady Bears as the top women's college basketball team, and on Monday many of the Associated Press voters agreed.

Baylor solidified its hold at the top of the poll, earning all but one of the 40 first-place votes and 999 points from a nationwide media panel. The Lady Bears captured the preseason WNIT championship with a 94-81 victory over the then-second-ranked Irish.

Notre Dame dropped two spots to fourth this week, while Connecticut moved up two spots to second and Stanford also crept up two to third. Texas A&M, which received the only other first-place vote, slid up one place to fifth.

Tennessee had been third, but an overtime loss at Virginia on Sunday dropped the Lady Vols three spots to sixth. Duke, Maryland, Miami-Florida and Georgia complete this week's top 10.

The second 10 consists of Louisville, Oklahoma, Rutgers, Kentucky, Purdue, North Carolina, Penn State, Ohio State, Texas Tech and LSU. Penn State dropped six spots from 11th, while Ohio State and Texas Tech each moved up six places.

Georgetown, Virginia, DePaul, Texas and UCLA are the last five teams ranked this week. Virginia and Texas are newcomers, while Florida State and Southern California each dropped out.