UConn continues reign, the last USA TODAY Sports women’s basketball coaches poll of 2013

There were no changes in the top 20 places of the last USA TODAY Sports women’s basketball coaches poll of 2013, published December 31. Undefeated Connecticut (13-0) remains at the top spot, a place the Huskies have claimed since preseason. They defeated Cincinnati 67-34 on December 29.

Oklahoma (9-4) moved up two spots to No. 22 even though they had no significant wins after losing to Marist on December 21. They beat Samford (3-9) Sunday, 66-35. Iowa (12-2) also moved up two places to land at No. 23 after defeating North Dakota 88-62 on December 28.

California (8-3) now sits at No. 21, up from last week’s No. 22. Their only game this past week was a 77-60 victory over Lafayette. The previous week they suffered an 80-47 rout at the hands of UConn. Syracuse dropped one place to No. 24. They lost a contest to Arizona State, 63-60, Monday in Tempe. Gonzaga fell out of the poll. They lost to Saint Mary’s in a 79-78 overtime thriller on Saturday.

Arizona State (11-1) entered the poll at No. 25. The Sun Devils have won 10 straight games, taking down two ranked teams: a 94-81 overtime victory over North Carolina on November 29 and Syracuse.

There are four undefeated teams in the poll: UConn, Notre Dame, Iowa State and Oklahoma State. Other Division I undefeated teams include Arkansas (13-0), Indiana (13-0) and San Diego (13-0). Teams that remain winless: UMass Lowell, Prairie View and New Orleans.

TEAM	RECORD	POINTS	FIRST PLACE VOTES	CHANGE
1	Connecticut Huskies	13-0	800	1
2	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	11-0	756	2
3	Duke Blue Devils	12-1	733	3
4	Stanford Cardinal	11-1	712	4
5	Tennessee Vols	11-1	665	5
6	Kentucky Wildcats	12-1	646	6
7	Louisville Cardinals	13-1	614	7
8	Maryland Terrapins	12-1	571	8
9	Baylor Bears	10-1	538	9
10	Iowa State Cyclones	11-0	498	10
11	North Carolina Tar Heels	11-2	450	11
12	South Carolina Gamecocks	12-1	422	12
13	Oklahoma State Cowgirls	11-0	414	13
14	Colorado Buffaloes	10-1	366	14
15	Nebraska Cornhuskers	10-2	334	15
16	LSU Tigers	10-2	293	16
17	Penn State Lions	9-3	274	17
18	Georgia Bulldogs	12-1	263	18
19	Purdue Boilermakers	10-2	233	19
20	Florida State Seminoles	12-1	185	20
21	California Golden Bears	8-3	143	22
22	Oklahoma Sooners	9-4	105	24
23	Iowa Hawkeyes	12-2	100	25
24	Syracuse Orange	11-2	65	23
25	Arizona State Sun Devils	11-1	53	NR

Schools Dropped Out: No. 21 Gonzaga.
Others Receiving Votes: Arkansas 33; Gonzaga 29; San Diego 23; Middle Tennessee 16; Brigham Young 13; Saint Mary’s 11; Texas 9; North Carolina State 7; Georgia Tech 7; Bowling Green 6; Dayton 5; Rutgers 4; Texas A&M 2; Vanderbilt 2.

List of Voters
The USA TODAY Sports Board of Coaches is made up of 32 head coaches a Division I institutions. All are members of the Women”s Basketball Coaches Association. The board for the 2013-14 season: Joan Bonvicini, Seattle University; Joanne Boyle, Virginia; Lynn Bria, Stetson; June Daugherty, Washington State; Kathy Delany-Smith, Harvard; Brooks Donald-Williams, McNeese State; Tonya Edwards, Alcorn State; Oties Epps, Evansville; Jose Fernandez, South Florida; Stephanie Gaitley, Fordham; Sue Guevara, Central Michigan; Joe Haigh, St. Francis (Pa.); Bonnie Henrickson, Kansas; Rick Insell, Middle Tennessee; Jeff Judkins, Brigham Young; Krista Kilburn-Steveskey, Hofstra; Andy Landers, Georgia; Kellie Lewis-Jay, Florida Atlantic; Kevin McMillan, Tennessee-Martin; Dave Magarity, Army; Suzy Merchant, Michigan State; Faith Mimnaugh, Cal Poly; Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick, North Carolina-Asheville; John Olenowski, Manhattan; Kathy Olivier, UNLV; Kate Peterson Abiad, Cleveland State; Jennifer Rizzotti, Hartford; Susan Robinson-Fruchtl, Providence; David Six, Hampton; Charlotte Smith, Elon; Jaime White, Northern Colorado; Amy Williams, South Dakota.