According to DOUG FEINBERG, a writer for the Associated Press,

The Kansas State women’s basketball team achieved their highest ranking in 21 years as they climbed to fourth place in The Associated Press poll on Monday.

The Wildcats moved up three positions and have not held such a high ranking since 2003. They achieved a remarkable victory on Monday evening by coming from behind to defeat No. 13 Baylor. Kansas State accomplished this feat despite the absence of their star center Ayoka Lee, who is recovering from an ankle injury for the next few weeks.

The poll results showed that South Carolina maintained its top spot, receiving all 35 votes from a panel of national media. The team had convincing victories against Kentucky and Texas A&M. On Thursday, Coach Dawn Staley’s team will face a tough challenge against No. 9 ranked LSU.

Some changes occurred in the top 10 rankings this week, as UCLA moved up to the second spot after defeating Colorado in an away game. However, their position may not be secure as they lost in overtime to Utah on Monday night.

The Buffaloes maintained their position in third place after defeating previous No. 6 USC, who dropped to 11th after a loss to Utah.

After losing in overtime to Ohio State, Iowa has now fallen to fifth place in the rankings. Following the game, Hawkeyes’ standout guard Caitlin Clark had a frightening experience when a fan accidentally ran into her while rushing onto the court to celebrate. Fortunately, Clark reported that she was unharmed.

The Ohio State Buckeyes moved up six rankings to reach No. 12.

Iowa was followed by Stanford (6th), North Carolina State, and UConn.

This week, Syracuse (22), West Virginia (24), and Oregon State (25) joined the rankings, while Iowa State, Marquette, and UNLV fell out.

On Sunday, Tara VanDerveer, the coach of Stanford, set a new record for most wins by a coach in major college basketball, surpassing Mike Krzyzewski, the former coach of Duke men’s team, when her team defeated Oregon State.

There are six teams in the ACC standings with similar losses, including Syracuse and North Carolina who both have a record of 6-1. Louisville has a record of 5-1 while Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, and N.C. State each have two losses.

The team from Florida State, who fell eight rankings to number 23 in the survey, had only one defeat prior to last week’s losses against Syracuse and Virginia.

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The AP Top 25 Women’s College Basketball Poll and the coverage of women’s college basketball can be found at https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball, respectively.

Source: wralsportsfan.com