South Carolina still No. 1, Syracuse to Top 25 - ESPN

South Carolina started the new year where it finished off 2023 — atop The Associated Press women's basketball poll.

The Gamecocks received 34 of the 35 first-place votes from a national media panel Monday. They had been unanimous the previous six weeks.

UCLA got the other No. 1 vote after beating then-No. 6 USC in a Los Angeles showdown Saturday. The No. 2 Bruins have now defeated four top-25 teams, with two wins coming at neutral sites and one on the road.

First-place votes in parentheses

Syracuse entered the poll at No. 25, marking its first appearance since Jan. 18, 2021. The Orange beat then-No. 13 Notre Dame on Sunday. The Irish fell to 16th. The Orange (11-1) have lost only to Maryland and will next play at North Carolina on Thursday. Syracuse is off to its best start since 2017-18, and the Orange hope to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2021.

The Tar Heels fell out of the Top 25, ending a 34-week streak in the poll. That was the seventh-longest active run.

No. 3 North Carolina State and Iowa followed UCLA. Colorado moved up three spots to No. 5 after a win over then-No. 12 Utah.

Baylor climbed in the rankings to No. 6, up four places after a win over then-No. 5 Texas. The Longhorns, who lost star Rori Harmon to an ACL injury last week, dropped to 10th.

No. 7 LSU, Stanford and USC followed the Bears.

CLIMBING THE RECORD BOOKS: Iowa star Caitlin Clark moved into fifth on the Division I all-time scoring list after a 35-point effort in a win over Minnesota. She has 3,149 points and trails Kelsey Plum (3,527), Kelsey Mitchell (3,402), Jackie Stiles (3,393) and Brittney Griner (3,283).

Clark also moved to No. 1 on the Big Ten all-time assists list with 904. She passed Samantha Prahalis' 901 and has