Cougar women finish ranked No. 18 in Coaches’ Poll

PROVO, Utah— After its impressive run in the 2014 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championships, BYU women’s basketball finished ranked No. 18 nationally in the final USA Today Sports Division I Top 25 Coaches’ Poll.

The Cougars had been receiving votes in the weekly poll since January when they had a 13-2 record. Entering the NCAA tournament, BYU was five spots out of the Top 25 with 27 votes.

BYU’s 2013-14 campaign was one of the best in the program’s history. The team captured a record 28 wins and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second time in school history.

The Cougars entered the NCAA tournament as the No. 12 seed and recorded two upset victories over No. 5-seed North Carolina State and No. 4-seed Nebraska. In the Sweet 16 game, BYU gave No. 1 Connecticut all it could handle down by one 30-29 at the break. The Huskies would eventually record the 19-point, 70-51 victory over BYU on their way to winning the NCAA championship Tuesday night with a 79-58 victory over Notre Dame.

The last time BYU was ranked in the Top 25 was during the 2005-06 season. They climbed to a No. 23 ranking on Jan. 18, 2006.

USA TODAY/ESPN Top 25 Coaches Poll (Final)

Rank School (Record)

1. Connecticut (40-0)*

2. Notre Dame (37-1)

3. Stanford (33-4)

4. Maryland (28-7)

5. Louisville (33-5)

6. Baylor (32-5)

7. North Carolina (27-10)

8. Tennessee (29-6)

9. South Carolina (29-5)

10. Texas A&M (27-9)

11. Kentucky (26-9)

12. West Virginia (30-5)

13. Duke (28-7)

14. Penn State (24-8)

15. Oklahoma State (25-9)

16. DePaul (29-7)

17. Nebraska (26-7)*

18. BYU (28-7)

19. Purdue (22-9)

20. California (22-10)

21. North Carolina State (25-8)*

22. Gonzaga (29-5)*

23. Michigan State (23-10)

24. LSU (21-13)

25. Oregon State (24-11)

* Denotes BYU Opponent