The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
UConn back at No. 1
UNCASVILLE — UConn is back on top.
The Huskies returned to the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press women’s basketball poll for the eighth straight season.
The 11time national champions received 19 firstplace votes Monday to leapfrog Stanford, which lost to Texas on Sunday. The Cardinal dropped all the way to fifth, behind Oregon, Oregon State and South Carolina.
This is the record 243rd time that the Huskies have sat atop the poll. They’ve been ranked No. 1 at some point in all but five seasons since their first national championship in 1995.
The Huskies opened at fifth, their lowest preseason ranking since starting eighth in 200607. They stayed there until the second week of December, when they rose to second. The Huskies crushed Oklahoma 9753 on Sunday at Mohegan Sun Arena to improve to 100.
Chris Dailey, who coached the team in Geno Auriemma’s absence, wasn’t expecting the Huskies to climb to No. 1 at this point.
“I don’t know that we’re the No. 1 team in the coun
try,” Dailey said. “I haven’t seen enough of a lot of people, but I’ve known our team when we have been No. 1. This team isn’t there yet. I think somewhere down the line — we’re not really worried if we’re No. 1 now. I think what we want to do is give ourselves the best chance to be in a position in March.
“I think Geno said it last week where he was shocked that we were the No. 2 team. I think he’ll probably be shocked if we become the No. 1 team.”
The Huskies were ranked No. 1 heading into the 2019 calendar year, but lost to Baylor to spoil an 110 start. Now, they’ll likely finish it in the same spot. The Huskies are off until Jan. 2, when Wichita State visits Hartford.
“That’s where we want to be,” forward Megan Walker said. “That’s all I’ve got to say about it. Rankings don’t mean anything to us, but we definitely want that going into the Christmas break.”
Added guard Crystal Dangerfield: “It’s cool. I don’t know if we get put there because other teams have lost or they actually think that we deserve it, but at the end of the day, it’s just a number. We’ve been put at six, five, whatever it is, people think that we deserve it and people think that we don’t.”
It’s a nice distinction, but what’ll matter more to the Huskies is where they’re ranked in April. Three straight losses in the Final Four have them staring at their longest championship drought in over a decade.
“From what’s happened for the last three years, I don’t care about anything until we get to the last week,” Dangerfield added.
Putting themselves to the test: Oklahoma went 822 last season, ending a string of 19 consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament. It was the fifthlongest streak in the country behind Tennessee, Stanford, UConn and Notre Dame.
Even after that tough finish, Sherri Coale continues to challenge her team. Eight of the Sooners’ 12 nonconference opponents made the postseason a year ago, including, of course, UConn.
“The reason you play a preconference schedule, in my opinion, is to get information,” Coale said. “You schedule games like this to learn about your team, to get exposed, to figure out exactly what it is you need to work on and where you’ve got to improve. … You also schedule games like this for your resume, and it does help, even when you get clobbered like we got clobbered today.”
The Sooners (75) previously lost to No. 21 Missouri State. They also beat LSU, which was ranked No. 25 at the time of their matchup.
“We’re playing the No. 2 team in the country on the road,” she noted. “You schedule teams to grow the sport of women’s basketball because that’s what we’re supposed to do.”
On their game: This was a recordbreaking week for a pair of standouts from the Big 12.
On Wednesday, Baylor guard Juicy Landrum drained 14 3pointers in a 11143 rout of Arkansas State. Then on Sunday, Texas Tech forward Brittany Brewer recorded 16 blocks in a 8338 victory over LouisianaMonroe, tying a mark held on the men’s and women’s side.
Brewer leads the country with 62 blocks. UConn’s Olivia NelsonOdoda, the American Athletic Conference CoPlayer of the Week, is second with 44.