Ohio State Tumbles in Latest Women’s AP Top 25

It was a rough week for Ohio State, which lost all three of its games and tumbled down the AP Top 25 as a result.

The previously unbeaten Buckeyes fell from second to 10th in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll released Monday after losing to Iowa and Indiana, two top 10 teams, as well as Purdue. Ohio State fell two games back in the Big Ten Conference standings.

Paul Vernon/Associated Press

South Carolina remained No. 1 for the 32nd consecutive week. The Gamecocks, who were again a unanimous choice from the 28-member national media panel, have the fourth-longest streak ever atop the poll. Only UConn (51 and 34 weeks) and Louisiana Tech (36) have had longer runs at No. 1.

Stanford moved back up to No. 2 in the poll and the Cardinal were followed by LSU, Indiana and UConn in the top five. LSU is the only other undefeated team in women’s basketball besides South Carolina, which visits UConn for a top-five showdown on Sunday.

Iowa jumped out four spots to sixth with Utah, Maryland and Notre Dame coming in ahead of Ohio State. The Hawkeyes started the season No. 4 in the poll.

The Fighting Irish split a pair of games last week against ranked opponents, routing Florida State before falling to N.C. State.

“There’s a lot of parity right now, which is great, great for the game,” Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey said. “The game is growing, which is what you want. But yeah, I mean, every night, especially the ACC, the ACC is the strongest league and, you know, we have just a tough stretch every night.”

One week after falling out of the rankings, Texas re-entered the poll at No. 24. The Longhorns routed then-No. 14 Oklahoma and Oklahoma State last week. South Florida also came in at No. 25. Colorado and Illinois fell out of the poll.

Full women’s poll as of Jan. 30:

1. South Carolina
2. Stanford
3. LSU
4. Indiana
5. UConn
6. Iowa
7. Utah
8. Maryland
9. Notre Dame
10. Ohio State
11. UNC
12. Iowa State
13. Virgina Tech
14. UCLA
15. NC State
16. Duke
17. Gonzaga
18. Michigan
19. Villanova
20. Oklahoma
21. Middle Tennessee
22. Arizona
23. Florida State
24. Texas
25. South Florida

Others receiving votes: Illinois 45, Colorado 40, USC 17, Tennessee 13, Purdue 12, UNLV 9, Baylor 1, Columbia 1, Oregon 1.