Michigan State moves up to No. 22 in women’s basketball poll

Michigan State cracked the Assocated Press women’s basketball Top 25 last week.

Now, the Spartans are moving up.

Michigan State (9-1) climbed one spot to No. 22 in this week’s poll, on the heels of Sunday’s 74-66 overtime victory over Hartford.

Baylor fell out of the top five for the first time in nearly a year after losing at Stanford.

The Lady Bears dropped from third to sixth in the poll after losing 68-63 on Saturday to the then-No. 11 Cardinal. Stanford moved up to eighth.

Kim Mulkey’s team last was ranked outside the top five on Jan. 1, 2018, when Baylor was No. 6.

UConn and Notre Dame still are the top two teams in the country. The Huskies are the unanimous No. 1 team from the 31-member national media panel. They had the week off for exams. UConn plays its next four games on the road with stops at Oklahoma, No. 14 California, Baylor and Houston over the next few weeks.

Notre Dame routed Binghamton and hosts Western Kentucky on Wednesday before visiting No. 19 Marquette on Saturday.

Louisville, Mississippi State and Maryland round out the first five teams in the poll.

Texas A&M re-entered the AP Top 25 at No. 23 after edging Oregon State 76-70 in Hawaii over the weekend. The Beavers fell to 11th. Missouri fell out of the poll after losing to a strong South Dakota squad.

ASSOCIATED PRESS WOMEN’S TOP 25

Others receiving votes: Iowa St. 22, South Dakota 22, Florida State 21, Virginia Tech 21, South Florida 19, Missouri 13, Indiana 11, Georgia 8, Utah 5, Southern Cal 4, Drake 1, South Dakota State 1, West Virginia 1.