Buffs Crack Into AP Rankings

BOULDER - After opening the 2002-03 season 8-1, the University of Colorado women's basketball team entered the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time this season, checking in at No. 25 on Monday afternoon.

Colorado finished the 2001-02 campaign at No. 8 in the AP poll, however the loss of four starters to graduation has kept the Buffs out of the Top 25 so far this year. CU has been receiving votes in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today Polls all season.

CU has opened the 2002-03 season with the second-best start in school history at 8-1. The Buffs are in the midst of a five-game winning streak and are currently in upstate New York for a two-game swing against Syracuse on Dec. 31 and Buffalo on Jan. 2.

The Buffaloes join Kansas State (4), Texas Tech (8), Texas (17) and Oklahoma (19) as the Big 12's representatives in the poll.

CU was last No. 25 in the AP Poll on Jan. 22, 2001, when they entered the rankings for the first time since Dec. 29, 1997.