South Carolina was unanimously ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll after a pair of wins that launched a national championship repeat, while Kansas State broke into the top 10 and both Stanford and Oregon broke their first regular-season rankings. Season.

The Gamecocks opened the season with a tough six-point win over Michigan in Las Vegas, defeating then-No. 9 North Carolina State by 14 points. The two victories ensured the defending champions were unanimously selected by the 31-member national media panel. In the preseason poll, No. 2 UConn received two first-place votes, while No. 3 USC received one first-place vote.

The top eight teams in the rankings are unchanged; Texas and UCLA rounded out the top five. Notre Dame, LSU and Iowa State were ranked ninth, with Oklahoma ranked ninth and Kansas State 10th. NC State dropped to 13th.

Former Pac-12 schools Stanford and Oregon made the rankings after an impressive start to the season. The No. 24 Cardinals, under new coach Kate Paye, went 3-0 last week and won by an average of 41 points. They were in the preseason polls every year from 2000 until this season.

The No. 25 Ducks entered the poll on the strength of a two-point home win over then-No. 12 Baylors. The win ended Oregon’s 13-game losing streak against ranked opponents. The Bears dropped to 17th.

We’re moving upwards

Maryland moved up seven spots to No. 11 after the then-impressive 85-80 win. 11 dukes This was the Terrapins’ first meeting against the Blue Devils since defeating former ACC rival 65-55 in the Sweet 16 in 2015. The victory came almost a year after the Terrapins saw the end of their 13-year streak in the poll. season. Duke dropped to 16th.

To fall

Creighton, Indiana and Florida State dropped out of the poll after early losses. The Bluejays lost at South Dakota State, the Hoosiers lost at home to Harvard and the Seminoles in Illinois. The Illini entered the poll ranked 23rd.

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UConn coach Geno Auriemma is one victory behind retired Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, who has the most wins of all time with 1,216. The Huskies could tie VanDerveer when he played North Carolina’s No. 15. The potential record-breaking win could come at home against FDU on November 20th. VanDerveer named the Stanford court after him.

game of the week

No. 16 Duke at South Dakota State. Coach Kara Lawson is challenging her team early on the road in three of the Blue Devils’ first four games. Duke opened at Liberty before playing at Maryland.