Arizona women’s basketball climbs to program-high No. 4 in AP poll

Last time Arizona women’s basketball reached No. 6 in the Associated Press poll, it stalled there. This time, the program kept winning and took another step forward, climbing to No. 4 in this week’s poll to reach a program high.

The Wildcats first rose to No. 6 on Dec. 7, 2020. They spent four weeks there before losing and dropping back down in the poll. This time, there were no losses.

Arizona defeated North Dakota State and New Mexico last week despite losing starter Lauren Ware to injury. Meanwhile, other programs were losing. Eight Top 25 teams lost last week, including previous No. 3 Connecticut.

The Pac-12 was not spared. Oregon State, which had been ranked No. 23, lost again to drop to 5-3. The loss by the Beavers and Colorado dropping out of the poll despite not losing means that there are now only two teams from the conference in the AP Top 25.

In addition to Arizona, Stanford also checks in from the Top 5. The Cardinal are ranked No. 3 this week, moving up one spot after the loss by UConn. Stanford’s 651 points land it just 17 points ahead of the Wildcats.

Colorado stands just outside the Top 25, a mere one point behind current No. 25 North Carolina. The Tar Heels tallied 64 points to land in the final spot.

Oregon State, Oregon, Washington State, and UCLA are also receiving votes, but their numbers are negligible. The Ducks have a total of 13 points, the Cougars earned 8 points, the Beavers stand at 3, and UCLA received 2 points.

With the Wildcats’ men’s team reaching No. 8 in the AP poll earlier in the day, Arizona joins Baylor as the only schools with both basketball teams in the Top 10.

The Wildcats next take the court when they visit NAU in Flagstaff on Dec. 17. They will then continue on to Las Vegas to face No. 11 Texas on Dec. 19.