Kentucky women’s basketball team just outside top 10 in preseason poll

The Kentucky women’s basketball team, led by National Player of the Year candidate Rhyne Howard, will start the season just outside the top 10. The Cats were ranked 11th in the Associated Press’ preseason Top 25, which was released Tuesday afternoon.

Southeastern Conference foe South Carolina received 29 of the 30 first-place votes and is the preseason No. 1 team for the first time in school history.

The Gamecocks, who had been second twice in the preseason poll, in 2014 and 2015, finished last season at No. 1 for the first time. Following South Carolina at No. 2 was Stanford, which received the other first-place vote from the national media panel. It’s the Cardinal’s highest ranking in the preseason since the 2009 season when the team also was second.

Connecticut, Baylor and Louisville rounded out the top five, followed by Mississippi State, Arizona, N.C. State, UCLA and Oregon.

The preseason ranking for Kentucky was its highest since also being ranked No. 11 in the AP’s 2014-15 preseason poll.

UK finished the 2019-20 season with a 22-8 record and ended the season No. 16 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 18 in the USA Today/Coaches Top 25.

Last season, Howard was one of five finalists for the John R. Wooden Award and Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Year Award while also being named a first-team All-America honoree by the Associated Press and United States Basketball Writers Association. The 2020 SEC Player of the Year finished second nationally in scoring at 23.4 points per game while she made a school-record 84 three-pointers during the season.

AP Women’s Top 25

Others receiving votes: Texas 24, South Dakota 21, Florida State 12, North Carolina 10, Arizona State 6, Princeton 5, Marquette 4, South Dakota State 3, Boston College 2, South Florida 1, Southern California 1, Rutgers 1, Tennessee 1, Duke 1.