Utah cracks women’s AP top 10 for 1st time; Gamecocks No. 1

South Carolina completed 2022 the way it began the yr: No. 1 in The Related Press High 25 ladies’s basketball ballot.

Whereas the top-ranked Gamecocks cruised to a win of their lone recreation final week, then-No. 4 Indiana, No. 6 N.C. State and No. 7 Virginia Tech all misplaced as they scrambled to interchange injured gamers.

There have been 22 losses by groups within the AP high 10 this season earlier than Jan. 1. That was tied for essentially the most up to now 23 years earlier than January, matching the 2014-15 season, in keeping with ESPN. Seven of these losses got here to unranked groups, tied with 1999-2000 and 2004-05 for essentially the most ever.

The New 12 months didn’t begin off any higher for high groups as then-No. 10 UCLA misplaced to Oregon State.

“Probably the most difficult week placing collectively my ballot in my 12 years as a voter,” ESPN analyst Deb Antonelli mentioned after all of the ranked-team losses final week. “I’m taking a look at data, accidents, NET and my skilled eye as a basketball analyst, and it’s troublesome. We needed parity and we bought it! It’s an ideal measurement of progress in recreation.”

Stanford, Ohio State, Notre Dame and UConn spherical out the highest 5 groups within the ballot launched Monday. With the Hoosiers’ defeat, that left solely 5 unbeaten groups, together with the top-ranked Gamecocks, who had been as soon as once more a unanimous alternative at No. 1.

No. 3 Ohio State, No. 7 LSU, No. 8 Utah and Twenty fourth-ranked St. John’s are the opposite undefeated groups heading into 2023. Utah is making its first look within the high 10.

Indiana dropped to sixth with Virginia Tech and North Carolina State ending off the highest 10.

Duke was one of many the groups to knock off a top-10 squad final week, beating the Wolfpack. The Blue Devils entered the ballot at No. 19. They’re off to a 13-1 begin with the lone loss coming towards UConn. Kara Lawson’s crew is 3-0 in convention play for the primary time since 2013-14 and is off to its greatest in six years.

Arkansas fell out of the ballot.

RISING UTES:

Utah prolonged its season-opening successful streak to 14 video games, the second longest in class historical past and solely two victories in need of the crew that went 16-0 to start the 1997-98 season.

FALLING TAR HEELS

North Carolina has misplaced three straight video games and fallen to No. 22 within the ballot after dropping contests to Florida State and Virginia Tech. The Tar Heels, who had been sixth within the High 25 two weeks in the past, will attempt finish the slide towards Miami on Thursday.

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AP ladies’s faculty basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25