USC moves up to No. 7 in women’s AP Top 25 poll

The Juju Watkins-led USC women’s basketball team, winners of six straight games, climbed three spots to No. 7 in The Associated Press poll released Monday, while unbeaten South Carolina remained a unanimous No. 1.

The Trojans (20-4) swept Oregon and then-no. 11 Oregon State over the weekend, moving into a tie for second place in the Pac-12, two games behind No. 3 Stanford (23-3). USC plays host to No. 11 Colorado (20-5) and No. 18 Utah (19-7) this week.

UCLA (20-5), which split its games last week, is ranked No. 12.

The six teams in front of USC didn’t change, with South Carolina leading the way, as it has since the regular season began. The Gamecocks received all 35 votes from a national media panel. South Carolina (25-0) was tested in both its game last week, rallying to beat Tennessee and Georgia. Coach Dawn Staley’s team trailed at halftime at home against Georgia on Sunday before winning by 14 points.

Ohio State (22-3) was right behind South Carolina, marking the first time in seven weeks that a No. 2 team held its place for two consecutive polls. Stanford, Iowa, Texas and North Carolina State followed the

Buckeyes.

NO. 15 UCONN 73, NO. 21 CREIGHTON 53 >> Paige Bueckers scored 24 points, Aaliyah Edwards added 20 and the Huskies won the Big East game on Monday to secure at least a share of the conference regular-season championship and the top seed in the tournament.

Ashlynn Shade added 15 points and nine rebounds for Uconn (23-5, 15-0), which gave coach Geno Auriemma win No. 1,203, moving him past former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and into second on the all-time wins list behind Stanford’s Tara Vanderveer (1,209).

Lauren Jensen had 20 points for Creighton (21-4, 12-3), which saw its 11-game winning streak snapped.

Men

HUSKIES UNANIMOUS NO. 1 >> Uconn became the first unanimous No. 1 in The Associated Press poll this season, while Washington State jumped into the rankings at No. 21 to end a 302-week drought stretching back to the 2007-08 season.

The Huskies (24-2) remained atop the poll for the sixth consecutive week after a blowout of Depaul and an impressive 81-53 win over then-no. 4 Marquette over the weekend. They received all 62 first-place votes from a panel of national media members, scooping up the 16 first-place votes that Purdue lost when the Boilermakers fell to Ohio State on Sunday.

Uconn is riding the second-longest streak at No. 1 in school history behind a 10-week stay during the 1998-99 season, when the team won the national championship.

Uconn has won 14 straight games, the longest streak in men’s Division I basketball.

Houston (22-3), which beat Texas over the weekend, moved into the second spot ahead of Purdue (23-3), while Arizona (20-5) moved up one spot into fourth and Tennessee (19-6) climbed three spots to round out the top five.

San Diego State (20-6) is No. 19, just behind Saint Mary’s (21-6).

There were four newcomers or returning teams among the final five Monday: Washington State (206) at No. 21, followed by Colorado State (20-6), Texas Tech (18-7) and Florida (187). BYU (18-7) fell six spots but held down the final spot in the Top 25.

The Cougars, who have won seven straight, returned to the poll for the first time since they were No. 21 in the final ranking of the 2007-08 season. Their first test as a ranked team will be a trip to No. 4 Arizona on Thursday night.