Clark gets fitted for scoring crown
Caitlin Clark and Iowa climbed back to No. 2 in the Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll Monday as the star guard moved within striking distance of the NCAA career scoring record.
It’s the second time in a few weeks that the Hawkeyes have been second in the poll, a spot that hasn’t been kind to teams the past month. UCLA, Iowa and Kansas State all took turns in the second position since Jan. 8 and none of the schools could hold that ranking for more than a week at a time.
While No. 2 has been a revolving door lately, South Carolina has maintained a strong grip atop the poll, once again the unanimous No. 1 team from a 35-member national media panel.
The Gamecocks (21-0) will host Missouri and No. 11 Connecticut this week. Dawn Staley’s squad will play those games without star center Kamilla Cardoso, who left for a week to play with the Brazilian national team at an Olympic qualifying tournament.
Iowa has held the No. 2 spot twice before this season, including the week of Jan. 15 when the Hawkeyes lost to Ohio State.
Clark, who is only 66 points away from becoming the all-time leading scorer in NCAA women’s basketball history, will try and make it a longer stay this time around. She will lead the Hawkeyes against Penn State and Nebraska this week with Kelsey Plum’s record in view.
Texas vaulted five places to seventh after beating Baylor and thenNo. 2 Kansas State last week. The Wildcats fell to eighth after also losing to Oklahoma, which entered the poll at No. 24. UCLA was ninth and USC climbed five spots to 10th.
UConn coach Geno Auriemma is one victory away from joining Tara VanDerveer (1,206) and Mike Krzyzewski (1,202) as the only Division I coaches with 1,200 victories. Auriemma’s first chance to reach that milestone is Wednesday when the Huskies host Seton Hall.
South Carolina joins men’s poll
Reigning national champion Connecticut, Purdue and North Carolina remained atop the Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll for the third consecutive week, while South Carolina cracked the rankings for the first time in nearly seven years.
The Huskies earned 45 of 61 first-place votes to remain at No. 1 for the fourth straight week in Monday’s poll, while the Boilermakers topped the ballots of 16 other voters.
The top of the poll remained set after a big week that included four top-10 matchups over the weekend, with Purdue winning at Wisconsin and UNC beating rival Duke. The week also included Kansas beating the University of Houston, which vaulted the Jayhawks up four spots to No. 4 and dropped the Cougars one spot to No. 5.
At No. 15, South Carolina is making its first appearance in the poll since February 2017
Baylor rose five spots to No. 13 after a home win against No. 14 Iowa State.
Texas Tech had the week’s biggest tumble, falling eight spots to No. 23 after a loss at TCU and a home loss to Cincinnati.