Stanford women move to No. 1 in the AP poll
Coach Tara VanDerveer and Stanford are 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 three weeks, 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.
“Rankings are important in March,” she said. “Let’s hope we’re playing in March.”
Louisville moved up three spots to No. 2 — matching the highest ranking in school history — and received two firstplace votes. UConn, which has yet to play a game because the Huskies were on pause due to coronavirus concerns, stayed at No. 3, also receiving two firstplace votes.
The Wolfpack, who got 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 alltime record of 1,098 wins. Where and when that might happen, however, is still up in the air.
The Cardinal had to shift its Pac-12 opener last weekend to Las Vegas due to Santa Clara County’s ban on sporting events and practices for three weeks. They were supposed to play Washington State today 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.
COVID CONCERNS
* The UConn women’s program is set to begin play on Saturday against UMass-Lowell after coming back from its coronavirus-related shutdown.
Men
GONZAGA , BAYLOR RE - MAIN NO. 1 AFTER GAME SCRAPPED >> Gonzaga and Baylor remained atop the AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll after their hotly anticipated weekend game in Indianapolis was called off about 90 minutes before tipoff because of positive COVID-19 tests and contact tracing within the Bulldogs’ program.
Iowa remained third after Luka Garza’s monster week powered the Hawkeyes to a pair of easy victories, Michigan State climbed four spots to No. 4 and Kansas jumped two spots to round out the top 5.
Illinois allowed the Big Ten Conference to keep three teams in the top six after then-No. 4 Wisconsin took a tumble with a lastsecond loss to Marquette. The Illini were followed by Houston, Creighton, Villanova and Duke.
NO. 19 RICHMOND 77, WOFFORD 72 >> Jacob Gilyard made a 3- pointer with 19.5 seconds left, and the 19th-ranked Spiders won a game that was arranged only two days earlier. Gilyard led the Spiders (3- 0) with 18 points. Storm Murphy led the Terriers with 21 points, and Messiah Jones had 20 points and 10 rebounds.
COVID CONCERNS
• No. 13 Wisconsin’s men’s basketball game with No. 25 Louisville scheduled for Wednesday has been postponed. Wisconsin officials say the schools are trying to arrange a date to make the game up later in the season. Wisconsin has replaced Louisville with Rhode Island for Wednesday.
• UConn paused its basketball activities for the second time in five weeks to conduct testing and contact tracing after a member of the program tested positive for COVID-19.
The school announced postponed the Big East opener set for Friday against St. John’s.
• Second-ranked Baylor is looking for a replacement opponent for its scheduled home opener. The Bears were supposed to play Nicholls State tonight, but the Colonels had positive COVID-19 tests.
• North Carolina State says its game at Michigan on Wednesday has been postponed.