College basketball

UConn barely stays first

Connecticut barely held on at No. 1 after its winning streak ended at 70.

UConn edged Duke by four points Monday in the final AP poll of the season, the smallest margin between the top women's teams since a media panel began voting in 1994.

The closest finish was Purdue's 38-point edge over Tennessee to close the 1998-99 season.

Connecticut had been a unanimous No. 1 for six straight weeks, but it lost to Villanova 52-48 in the Big East tournament final. It was the Huskies' first defeat since the 2001 Final Four.

Connecticut (31-1) received 21 of 44 first-place votes and had 1,074 points. Duke (31-1) had 19 first-place votes and 1,070 points. The four other first-place votes went to No. 3 LSU, which had 1,018 points.

Connecticut and Duke were the only teams ranked No. 1 this season. The Huskies replaced the Blue Devils atop the poll Feb. 3, two days after beating Duke 77-65 in Durham.

This is the fourth straight season and record sixth time overall UConn has finished No. 1.

Tennessee and Louisiana Tech have done it five times. Texas is the only other school with four straight No. 1 finishes (1984-87).

On the strength of its big victory over UConn, Villanova jumped seven places to 11th, matching the Wildcats' highest ranking. They were 11th in the final poll of the 1981-82 season.

George Washington, which was ranked earlier this season, returned to the poll in a tie for 25th and was the only newcomer.

There were few other changes because many teams were idle.

Teams in the preseason poll that did not make the final one were Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Cincinnati, Iowa State and Colorado State.

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