Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Stanford is No. 1 amid record chase
Stanford remained atop The Associated Press women’s basketball poll released Monday and picked up firstplace votes, too.
Coach Tara VanDerveer matched Pat Summitt’s alltime win total of 1,098 with a victory on Sunday night over California that kept Stanford unbeaten. She can break the record today when her team faces Pacific.
“I just would like to say to everybody, basketball was invented as, always has been and always will be a great team sport,” she said. “Yes, this might be a record that has Tara VanDerveer’s name next to it, but it is about the athletic directors that hired me, gave me a chance, whether it’s been at Ohio State, Idaho or Stanford. It’s been about great, great, great assistant coaches that have worked extremely hard for our program and it’s about having great players. My dad, who passed away over 20 years now, said ‘You don’t win the Kentucky Derby on donkeys.’ ”
The University of Arkansas (7-1) moved up one spot to No. 12, swapping places with Mississippi State.
It was the second consecutive week that the Cardinal were the top team in the poll. Stanford received 26 of the 30
AP TOP 25 POLL. Page 6C.
first-place votes from a national media panel. Louisville, UConn, N.C. State and South Carolina followed Stanford as the first five remained unchanged in their position.
The Cardinal picked up two first-place votes, including one from Connecticut. The Huskies finally got their season started after being on pause for two weeks because of the virus. UConn routed UMass-Lowell on Saturday.
Arizona remained in sixth place with Oregon moving into a tie with Baylor for seventh. The Ducks routed rival Oregon State, which lost both its games this week to fall six spots to No. 21. Kentucky was ninth and Texas A&M 10th.
Second-ranked Louisville, which garnered two first-place votes, was put on pause this week after there was a positive covid-19 test in the program. The Cardinals’ game against North Carolina on Sunday was postponed, as was their game against Florida State that was set for Thursday.
“We are obviously disappointed, but unfortunately this is all part of the 2020-21 season,” Coach Jeff Walz said.
Wake Forest has won four of its first five games, including a victory over then-No. 21 Missouri State. The lone loss came against Arkansas. The Demon Deacons, who are just outside the Top 25, have a chance to really make a statement on Thursday against No. 4 N.C. State.