New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - South Carolina has moved to the top of the Associated Press women's college basketball poll.
The Gamecocks are the No. 1 team in the country for the first time in the program's history, receiving 21 first-place votes and a total of 852 points from a nationwide media panel. Notre Dame finished a close second with 12 No. 1 votes and 838 points.
Connecticut had been the top-ranked team for 22 straight weeks and still picked up one first-place vote despite an overtime loss at Stanford last Monday, a setback that ended the national champions' 47-game winning streak.
Tennessee, Stanford, Texas, Texas A&M, Duke, Kentucky and Maryland complete this week's top 10. Stanford might have been able to jump into the top spot after beating the Huskies, but fell a few days later to Texas. The Longhorns earned the last first-place vote.
The second 10 consists of North Carolina, Louisville, Baylor, California, Nebraska, Michigan State, Iowa, DePaul, Oregon State and Oklahoma State. Baylor tumbled five spots from eighth after a loss to Kentucky last week.
Rutgers, Syracuse, Georgia, West Virginia and Mississippi State are the last five teams ranked. Syracuse, Georgia and West Virginia are tied for 22nd.
Mississippi State is the lone newcomer this week, while Gonzaga and Purdue dropped out. Gonzaga and Purdue were tied with Georgia for 24th in last week's poll.
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