For the first time since the preseason, the Colorado women’s basketball team has slipped out of the Top 10 in the Associated Press rankings.
Following a 77-76 buzzer-beating loss at Utah on Friday, the Buffaloes fell to No. 11 in the latest poll released on Monday. The Buffs narrowly missed the top 10, finishing with 520 points in the voting, while No. 10 Kansas State had 521.
CU (20-5, 10-4 Pac-12) had been in the top 10 for 14 consecutive weeks, the third-longest streak in program history. The 1994-95 team had the longest streak, at 16 weeks, while the 1993-94 team was in the top 10 for 15 consecutive weeks.
Ranked No. 20 in the preseason, CU vaulted to No. 5 after a season-opening win against then-No. 1 and defending champion LSU. The Buffs had been at No. 8 or higher ever since, but have now lost two straight games. Still, the Buffs are in the top 25 for the 22nd consecutive week, dating back to last season. That’s the fourth-longest streak in program history.
South Carolina remained the unanimous No. 1 and the rest of the top six did not change from last week, with Ohio State at No. 2, followed by Pac-12-leading Stanford, Iowa, Texas and North Carolina State.
USC jumped three spots to No. 7 after an impressive win at Oregon State on Sunday. Virginia Tech is No. 8, followed by Oregon State. The Beavers moved up two spots despite Sunday’s loss to USC because they beat then-No. 9 UCLA on a buzzer beater on Friday. OSU had a six-game winning streak (two of those against CU) snapped by USC.
In addition to Stanford, USC, Oregon State and CU, the Pac-12 has UCLA (No. 12) and Utah (No. 18) in the rankings.
CU will visit USC on Friday and will visit UCLA on Feb. 26.
Nearing milestones
With nine assists at Utah, Jaylyn Sherrod moved closer to becoming just the third player in program history with 600. She sits at 591, ranking behind Kennedy Leonard (664, 2015-19) and Bridget Turner (612, 1985-89) on the career list.
Kindyll Wetta, meanwhile, had two assists, giving her 295 for her career passing Lexy Kresl (294, 2011-15) for 20th on the career list. Wetta needs just five assists to become the 18th Buff to reach 300.
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