University of Connecticut Athletics
Women's Hoops Reclaims No. 1 Ranking
2/21/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 21, 2011
STORRS, Conn. - After an eight-week stint at No. 2, the University of Connecticut women's basketball team has reclaimed the No. 1 ranking in the Associated Press poll as announced by the AP this afternoon. The Huskies were the top-ranked team in the 2010-11 AP Preseason Poll and for the first six weeks of the regular season.
Connecticut was knocked out of the No. 1 spot following its 71-59 loss at No. 9/8 Stanford on December 30, ending a record streak of 51 consecutive weeks as the nation's top-ranked team. The 51-week run eclipsed the previous record of 36-straight weeks, which was accomplished by Louisiana Tech from 1980-82.
The Huskies received 37 of 40 first-place votes.
UConn has won 14-straight games since the loss in Palo Alto.
All told, Connecticut has been ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll for 152 weeks, the most of any program. The Huskies have been ranked in the top-10 for 111-consecutive weeks and have earned a spot somewhere in the top-25 329 times.
The top-ranked Huskies will welcome Seton Hall to the XL Center on Tuesday, February 22. Game time is set for 7 p.m. in Hartford.
In other news, freshman standout Bria Hartley has been named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week for the sixth time as announced by the league on Monday. Hartley helped the top-ranked Huskies to wins over No. 12/14 Oklahoma and No. 8 Oklahoma by an average of 31 points per game.
UConn has collected eight Freshman of the Week honors so far this season as Stefanie Dolson has been honored twice.
Hartley averaged 20.0 points per game and shot 62.5 percent from the field, including 42.9 percent from beyond the 3-point arc, to help lead the Huskies to wins over No. 12/14 Oklahoma and No. 8/8 Notre Dame by an average of 31 points per game.
Against Oklahoma, Hartley had 11 points, going 5-of-9 from the floor. In the win against Notre Dame, she had 29 points and five assists, connecting on 10 of her 16 shots, including 5-of-9 from long-range. Against the Irish and also posted a pair of thefts in 37-minutes of action. Hartley registered career highs in points (29), field goals made (10), 3-point field goals made (5), and free throw attempts (6).
The Huskies are back in action on Tuesday when the welcome Seton Hall to the XL Center. Game time is set for 7 p.m. in Hartford.
