Stanford new women’s No. 1

Coach Tara NEW YORK — VanDerveerandStanfordare the new No. 1 in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll.

The Cardinal ascended to the top spot Monday after previous No. 1 South Carolina lost at home to then-No. 8 North Carolina State. Stanford received 24 of the 30 first-place votes from a national media panel.

The Cardinal moved up to No. 1 at nearly the same time last year and held on to that spot for threeweeks, the team’s first appearance there in seven years.

VanDerveer downplayed the significance of her team moving to No. 1 in Week 3 of the season.

“Rankingsareimportantin March,” she said. “Let’shope we’re playing in March.”

Louisvillemoved up three spots toNo. 2— matching the highest ranking inschool history— and received two firstplace votes. UConn, which hasyettoplayagamebecause the Huskies were on pause duetocoronavirus concerns, stayed atNo. 3, also receiving two first-place votes.

TheWolfpack, whogot the other two first-place ballots, jumped four places to No. 4 after the 54-46 victory over the Gamecocks. South Carolina fell to fifth.

Arizona, Baylor, Oregon, Kentucky and Texas A&M round out the top 10. No. 6 is the highest ranking in Arizona’s history.

VanDerveer is poised to make history of her own: With her next victory, she will tie Pat Summitt’s all-time record of 1,098 wins. Where and when that might happen, however, is still up in the air.

The Cardinal had to shift their Pac-12 opener over the weekend to Las Vegas due to Santa Clara County’s ban on sporting events and practices for three weeks. They were supposed toplayWashington State on Tuesday in Las Vegas, but the Cougars don’t have enough scholarship players available due to coronavirus protocols.

The next game listed on the Cardinal’s schedule is Friday against UC Davis at home, then a game at Cal on Sunday.