UConn still unanimous No. 1 in AP women's hoops poll

Posted January 02, 2017 6:00 am

By DOUG FEINBERG

NEW YORK (AP) - DePaul coach Doug Bruno keeps losing players to injury and still is finding ways to win.

The Blue Demons re-entered the AP women's basketball poll Monday at No. 23 after winning their fourth straight game this weekend. UConn remained the unanimous top choice from the 33-member national media panel. The Huskies, who have won 88 straight games and next play on Wednesday against East Carolina, were followed by Baylor, Maryland, Mississippi State and South Carolina.

DePaul guard Jessica January is the latest one of Bruno's players to get hurt. She broke her right index finger against Georgetown last Wednesday. She's the third DePaul starter to go down as Ashton Millender has been dealing with a leg injury that has kept her out since December 15 and junior forward Mart'e Grays is missing the season with an Achilles injury.

"We're re-tooling on the fly," said Bruno on Monday afternoon before his team faced Providence. "Other kids are stepping up. Kelly Campbell, a freshman, has been impactful. Seniors Jacqui Grant and Brooke Schulte have been shouldering a lot of the load."

January is a big loss for the Blue Demons as she leads the team in points, assists and steals. She'll have surgery on Tuesday and is out indefinitely.

"We have eight league games in 18 days, and we've already played two of them," Bruno said. "There are another six of them over this two-week period right now. We'll have the first half of the league done by Jan. 15."

DePaul (10-4) spent the first six weeks in the polls before falling out. Three of the team's four losses have come to UConn, Baylor and Notre Dame.

The Irish fell five spots this week to No. 7 after losing at N.C. State on Thursday night.

Florida State was sixth with Louisville, UCLA and Stanford following Notre Dame.

Kansas State also re-entered the poll at No. 25 while Colorado and Syracuse fell out. Kentucky fell seven spots to No. 24 after losing to Duke and Tennessee. The Wildcats did keep alive their 132-week streak of being ranked. That's the fifth longest active streak and eighth longest all-time.

___

Find the poll online at: http://collegebasketball.ap.org/ap-womens-basketball-poll-week-9

Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma gives instruction to his team during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against UCF on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017, in Orlando, Fla. Connecticut defeated UCF 84-48. (AP Photo/Roy K. Miller) The Associated Press

Article Comments

Article Comments

Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.