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Commodores Climb Three Spots to #21 in Associated Press Poll 3-1-04 3/1/2004 Highest AP Ranking Since Closing the 2002-03 Campaign at 14th Coming off a week that saw surging Vanderbilt (20-7/8-6 SEC) complete its regular-season with lopsided victories over Mississippi State (87-64) and South Carolina (62-41), the Commodore women’s basketball team climbed three spots from last week to #21 in this week’s Associated Press poll. The ranking marks the highest the Black and Gold have been in the AP listing since coming in at #14 in the final vote of the 2002-03 campaign. The senior duo of Jenni Benningfield and Hillary Hager closed their Memorial Gym careers out in style on “Senior Night” against MSU with 19 and 15 points, respectively. Juniors Abi Ramsey and Ashley Earley also tied for the team-lead with 19 tallies, while Earley added 12 boards to total her seventh double-double of the campaign. Freshman Dee Davis contributed eight assists, while hustling for a career-high seven rebounds. SEC Freshman of the Year candidate Carla Thomas reached the 20-point plateau for the third time this season with 20 tallies in the rout of South Carolina. The rookie forward has now reached double-digits in scoring 14 times this year, with 11 of those performances coming during rugged Southeastern Conference play. Hager contributed 13 points and Ramsey 11 tallies in the road win over the Gamecocks. Tennessee reclaims the top spot in this week’s poll after Connecticut, last week’s number one, suffered a 59-56 upset loss to Villanova and tumbled down to fourth spot. Duke moves up to #2, while Texas, fresh off its important 65-63 Big XII victory over #8 Kansas State, climbed from fifth to third. Connecticut and Big Ten Conference regular-season champion Penn State round out the top five. Purdue, Louisiana Tech, Kansas State, Texas Tech and North Carolina occupy positions 6-10, while Houston rocketed from 17th last week to 11th in this week’s listing after its Conference USA title-clinching 76-71 win over #16 TCU. Stanford, Colorado, Baylor and LSUround out the top 15. TCU falls from #13 to #16, while Oklahoma climbs six spots to 17th. Minnesota, Auburn and Georgia hold down positions 18-20. Vanderbilt moves from 24th to 21st on the strength of a late-season four-game winning streak to achieve its highest AP rating since the close of the 2002-03 campaign. Ohio State, Villanova, DePaul and Michigan State round out this week’s listing. The Black and Gold will open play at the 2004 SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament on Thursday night as the sixth-seeded Commodores face the 11th-seeded Kentucky Wildcats. Tip-off at the Gaylord Entertainment Center is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. CT. |
