Women's hoops falls from national rankings

The UA women's basketball team dropped out of the Associated Press poll this week after losses to UC Santa Barbara and Virginia and wins over Navy and Hawaii.

The two-time defending champion Connecticut Huskies held on to the top spot, picking up all 46 first-place votes available. The top six teams - Texas, Tennessee, Duke, Texas Tech and Stanford - all held their positions, while Michigan State and Virginia Tech replaced Arizona and Notre Dame, which also dropped out of the poll.

The Wildcats (3-2) started their season with a blowout win against Northern Arizona, 89-67, on Nov. 22, but fell three days later to No. 16 UCSB, 75-65. Arizona fell to Virginia, 70-65, on the first day of action at the Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu, but rebounded to defeat Navy and host Hawaii, 67-61 and 66-57, respectively, on Saturday and Sunday. Sophomore center Shawntinice Polk has paced the Wildcats through five games this season, averaging 16.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and two blocks per game. Junior guard Dee-Dee Wheeler is second on the UA scoring chart, averaging 16.2 points per game to go along with five rebounds and 5.6 assists per game.

Arizona next hits the court Saturday and Sunday in McKale Center for the Arizona Basketball Classic. American, Massachusetts and Utah State will all participate in the two-day event.