COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State cracked the top 10 of The Associated Press' women's college basketball poll on Monday for the first time in two years.
The Buckeyes moved into ninth after beating Purdue 67-66 to win the Big Ten tournament on Sunday. Connecticut remained an unanimous No. 1 for the 15th week in a row. The Huskies routed Villanova 72-42 on Monday night in the semifinals of the Big East tournament.
Connecticut was followed by Stanford, Oklahoma, and Maryland - marking the first time in four weeks that the top four teams remained unchanged. The Terps captured their first Atlantic Coast Conference tournament crown in 20 years with a 92-89 overtime victory over then-No. 8 Duke on Sunday.
Stanford is the top seed in the Pac-10 tournament this week and Oklahoma is the No. 1 team in the Big 12 tournament.
Louisville moved up two places to fifth. The Cardinals survived a double-overtime thriller against Rutgers on Sunday and beat Pittsburgh 69-63 in the Big East semifinals on Monday night.
Duke climbed two spots to sixth after falling just short against Maryland.
Baylor and Auburn each dropped two spots to seventh and eighth. Ohio State moved up three places. The Buckeyes, who are the only team from the Big Ten in the rankings, were in the top 10 every week from Dec. 4, 2004, to the final poll of the 2007 season.
Texas A&M and North Carolina remained in 10th and 11th. California fell three places after a loss to Arizona State. The Bears were followed by Florida State and Pittsburgh.
Vanderbilt made the biggest leap, climbing seven spots to 15th. The Commodores captured the Southeastern Conference title.
"I just can't wait to play again," Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb said. "I know we've got to wait a while for NCAAs, but I think we're ready to do some great things."
Arizona State moved up two spots to 16th, but lost star Dymond Simon for the rest of the season with a knee injury. The Sun Devils beat California and were giving Stanford a tough game before Simon got hurt.
Arizona State was followed by South Dakota State, Iowa State, Tennessee, and Xavier. The Musketeers dropped four spots after losing in the Atlantic 10 quarterfinals.
Florida, Kansas State, Texas, Notre Dame, and Virginia rounded out the poll.
The Wildcats jumped back in at No. 22 after sweeping Texas and Colorado.
One week after making its first appearance of the season in the Top 25, Bowling Green fell out.
The final poll will be released next Monday.
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