UConn women tied with Baylor at No. 2 in AP Poll

The UConn women are back where they started the season in the AP Poll, moving up one spot in a tie with Baylor for No. 2 this week.

Baylor handed UConn its only loss less than two weeks ago while the Huskies were ranked No. 1. UConn had claimed that ranking after beating Notre Dame (currently No. 1) in December.

Notre Dame received 23 first place votes, while Baylor received six and UConn received one. Notre Dame led with 736 total poll points, while UConn and Baylor tied with 706, which is why there are two No. 2 teams.

The Huskies will play Louisville, which dropped to No. 4 after losing to the Fighting Irish, on Jan. 31. Oregon rounds out the top five.

Last week, Notre Dame, UConn, Louisville and Baylor all had a claim for the top spot, but Notre Dame’s win over Louisville Thursday dropped the Cardinals two spots.

In the past week UConn (14-1, 3-0) beat Cincinnati and USF to continue its perfect record in the American Athletic Conference. Its most recent win, a 64-48 victory over the Bulls, also marked a special moment for Katie Lou Samuelson. The senior scored her 2,000th point, joining an elite group of UConn alums.

Up next for the Huskies is Tulane, which they play on Wednesday night in New Orleans.

Stanford, Mississippi State, North Carolina State, Maryland and Oregon State fill out the top 10.

Rutgers and DePaul entered the AP Top 25 at Nos. 20 and 24 while Florida State and California fell out.

Here are some other tidbits from the poll:

The Scarlet Knights entered the poll at No. 20. Rutgers has won its first five games in the Big Ten — the best start since joining the conference in 2014-15. The team has won eight straight overall. Rutgers faces Purdue and No. 17 Michigan State this week.

Tennessee dropped seven spots this week to No. 20 as the team is riding a three-game losing streak. It’s the first three-game skid for the Lady Vols in 33 years. They fell to Missouri, Kentucky and Georgia by a combined eight points over the last eight days.

An Associated Press report was used in this story. Kelli Stacy can be reached at kstacy@courant.com.