West Virginia women’s basketball (20-5, 10-4) climbed upwards one spot in the most recent edition of the AP Top 25 Women’s College Basketball Poll released on Monday.
The Mountaineers went from No. 18 last week to No. 17 this week after a 1-1 outing over the past seven days -- the Mountaineers dropped a tough midweek road game at now-No. 19 Baylor before returning to winning form with a Senior Day victory over Cincinnati.
WVU is 1-of-5 teams in the Big 12 Conference to make an appearance in the poll. They were joined by TCU (No. 10) and Kansas State (No. 12) ahead of them, and the aforementioned Baylor (No. 19) and Oklahoma State (No. 24) below them. In addition, the Big 12 Conference saw one team receiving votes in the poll but ranked outside the Top 25 -- Utah came in this week 27th out of the 36 teams receiving votes in the poll, earning 43 votes to their name.
The Mountaineers have dropped 3-of-their-5 losses this season to teams ranked in the Top 25 -- they fell to Baylor last week, Oklahoma State in January, and the now-No. 2 Texas Longhorns in non-league play during holiday tournament action.
WVU is now set for their toughest stretch of the schedule as they face back-to-back games this week against the pair of conference opponents ranked above them in the latest AP Poll. The Mountaineers kick off the tough week today at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown as they host the current first-place team in the Big 12, Kansas State (24-3,12-2). Action is set to tip-off at 2 P.M. EST.
The Mountaineers will then travel west for a showdown with TCU (24-3, 12-2) on Sunday. The Horned Frogs are currently second overall in the league standings.