WBB: Wounded Huskies drop out of AP’s Top 10 for first time since 2005

Injuries can once again be partly blamed for claiming yet another part of Connecticut Husky lore.

The most recent edition of the Associated Press’ women’s college basketball poll has removed UConn from its permanent perch in the first 10 for the first time since the final rankings of 2005. Released on Monday, the poll currently places the Huskies (6-3, 1-0 Big East) at No. 11, down four spots from last week’s edition.

With Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd, Aubrey Griffin and Nika Muhl all fighting various long-term ailments, the Huskies have set several dubious marks: a loss to Georgia Tech (placed 17th on Monday) on December 9th was their first to an unranked opponent since 2012 and Sunday’s loss to No. 3 Louisville at the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase at Mohegan Sun Arena ensured that UConn would lose three games before the new calendar year for the first since 2004-05. That year was also the Huskies’ most recent visit to the NCAA Tournament without reaching the regional final round.

Despite the losses, the injuries have given way to some pleasant surprises in the deeper portions of the UConn lineup: freshman guard Caroline Ducharme has averaged 19 points over the last two games including a young career-best 24 over all 40 minutes on Sunday. Ohio State transfer Dorka Juhasz has averaged a double-double (15.5 points, 12 rebounds) in that same span, notable sinking all five shots from the field in the December 11th win over UCLA at Newark’s Never Forget Tribute Classic.

UConn gets ten days off to ponder its latest defeat, with their next game, a resumption of Big East conference play, scheduled for Dec. 29 against Marquette in Hartford (7:00pm ET, SNY).

With their placing in 11th (matching their spot from the 2005 finale), the Huskies nonetheless continue a streak of 533 overall appearances in the top 25, leaving them 33 polls away from passing Tennessee’s tally that ended in 2016. Baylor now owns the longest top 10 streak at 133 weeks, as they barely kept things rolling by coming in at No. 10 after dropping an overtime decision shortly before the Huskies’ game against Louisville in Uncasville.

South Carolina retained its spot atop Monday’s poll, earning all 29 first-place votes. Stanford came out in the runner-up spot while Arizona and North Carolina State rounded out the top five.

In the men’s poll, UConn (10-4, 1-2 Big East) received 17 votes despite falling to newly minted No. 20 Seton Hall in an overtime thriller on Saturday.

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags