Same Four Teams Top Women's Poll

The top four teams stayed the same in The Associated Press women's basketball poll Monday, with Connecticut a unanimous choice at No. 1 for the fifth straight week. <br><br>Florida and Texas joined

Monday, December 4th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

The top four teams stayed the same in The Associated Press women's basketball poll Monday, with Connecticut a unanimous choice at No. 1 for the fifth straight week.

Florida and Texas joined the Top 25 for the first time this season and Oregon reached the Top Ten for only the second time in 18 years. Illinois and Boston College dropped out.

Connecticut played just once in the past week and the result was the same as its previous games: a rout. The Huskies (4-0) beat George Washington 90-63 and received all 40 first-place votes from the national media panel.

UConn had 1,000 points in the voting and has been No. 1 in 24 straight polls, the third-longest streak in the history of the poll.

Tennessee (5-0) was second with 960 points, No. 3 Duke (9-0) had 910 and No. 4 Notre Dame (6-0) 885. Those three teams each played twice in the past week and the closest game for any of them was Duke's 19-point win over Charlotte.

Georgia capped an impressive week with an 82-53 victory over Rutgers and moved up two places to fifth. The Lady Bulldogs also beat Georgia Southern by 26 and Chattanooga by 38.

Purdue held at No. 6 and Iowa State climbed one spot to seventh. Texas Tech, Rutgers and Oregon completed the Top Ten.

Oregon made the Top Ten in seven polls during the 1981-82 season. Since then, the Ducks' only appearance in that group before Monday came last season, when they were 10th the week of Dec. 7.

Auburn climbed three places to 11th and Louisiana Tech dropped three spots to 12th after a 19-point loss to Houston. That's the lowest ranking for the Lady Techsters since they were 14th in the 1996-97 preseason poll.

Penn State was 13th and Mississippi State 14th, followed by Oklahoma, Stanford, LSU, Southwest Missouri State, Xavier and Florida.

North Carolina State, Wisconsin, Vanderbilt, Virginia and Texas held the final five places.

Florida (6-0) entered the poll off a 92-79 victory over Penn State. It's the first appearance since Jan. 19, 1999 for the Lady Gators, who are getting outstanding play from guards Brandi McCain and Tombi Bell.

McCain is averaging 25.5 points. 5.3 assists and 3.7 steals, while Bell averages 14.5 points, 6.5 assists and 3.3 steals.

Texas (7-1) has lost only to Purdue and has a victory over Virginia. The Longhorns have compensated for the departure of last season's star, Edwina Brown, with balance. Seven players are averaging from 6.8 to 12.8 points a game.

Illinois (2-3), 24th last week, dropped out after losses to a pair of unranked teams â€” Kansas and Northern Iowa. Boston College (3-2), which had been 25th, beat Holy Cross but lost to Purdue.

Oklahoma had the biggest jump within the poll, going from 19th to 15th after beating Southwest Missouri State, which fell five places for the biggest drop. Rutgers, Wisconsin and Virginia all fell four spots.

Wisconsin beat Nebraska and lost to Tennessee. Virginia had a loss to Virginia Tech sandwiched between victories over St. Francis and Old Dominion.