UCLA Enters Top 25; Baylor Unanimous No. 1

NEW YORK (AP) — A win over the No. 2 team in the country earned UCLA its first ranking of the season.

The Bruins entered The Associated Press women's basketball poll on Monday at No. 25 after rallying from 22 points down to upset Oregon on Friday night. UCLA lost a close contest against Oregon State on Sunday.

The Ducks lost to the rival Beavers on Monday and fell to No. 6 in the poll. Oregon State moved up to ninth.

Baylor garnered all 28 first-place votes to remain No. 1 in the Top 25. The Lady Bears clinched their ninth consecutive Big 12 championship this past week. They host No. 18 Texas on Monday night.

UConn, Louisville, Notre Dame and Mississippi State round out the first five teams in the AP Top 25. Stanford, Maryland and N.C. State are the other three teams in the first 10.

South Dakota fell out of the rankings after losing to rival Summit League rival South Dakota State over the weekend. The Coyotes spent two weeks in the poll after getting ranked for the first time in school history earlier this month.

UCLA had a nice run in the Top 25 over the past few years reaching as high as fifth last season. The Bruins lost stars Monique Billings and Jordin Canada to graduation and the WNBA.

Here are some other tidbits from the AP Top 25 this week:

SURGING WILDCATS

Kentucky climbed five spots to No. 11. That's the best ranking for the Wildcats since they were ninth on Jan. 18, 2016. They knocked off then-No. 13 South Carolina on Thursday before edging LSU on Sunday. Kentucky is currently in third in the SEC.

Fourteen of the Top 25 teams lost last week, including seven to unranked schools. That tends to happen a lot in conference play where teams know each other better.

THROWDOWN THURSDAY

Thursday will see a trio of games between ranked teams. No. 3 Louisville hosts 10th-ranked N.C. State; No. 19 Texas A&M visits 11th-ranked Kentucky and 22nd- ranked Florida State hosts No. 17 Syracuse.

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' women's college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Feb. 24, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week's ranking:

Others receiving votes: South Dakota 23, South Dakota St. 22, DePaul 8, BYU 8, West Virginia 7, UCF 6, Kansas St 5, Clemson 4, Minnesota 4, Florida Gulf Coast 4, Rutgers 3, Missouri 2, Cent Michigan 2, Miami (Ohio) 1.