Jan. 5, 2004

WACO, Texas - The Baylor Lady Bear basketball team broke into the top 25 of the Associated Press' women's basketball poll which was released today, tying with Miami for the No. 24 spot.

The Lady Bears are 12-1 on the season and open Big 12 Conference play at home on Wed., Jan. 7 against No. 14 Colorado. Baylor's lone loss this season came on the road against then-No. 8 Penn State (74-63). Baylor made the poll for the first time since finishing the 2001-02 season at No. 7. The Lady Bears have topped 100 points twice this season, they're averaging 84.6 and have outscored their opponents by 31.7 a game.

"We welcome the ranking because it brings positive recognition to our program and Baylor University," said head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson.

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' women's college basketball poll through Jan. 4:

1. Duke
2. Texas Tech
3. Texas
4. Connecticut
5. Tennessee
6. Minnesota
7. Stanford
8. Louisiana Tech
9. Penn St.
10. Purdue
11. Kansas St.
12. Georgia
13. North Carolina
14. Colorado
15. Oklahoma
16. Virginia Tech
17. LSU
18. DePaul
19. TCU
20. Boston College
21. Auburn
22. Ohio St.
23. Michigan St.
24. Baylor
24. Miami

Others receiving votes: Utah 84, Vanderbilt 79, Rutgers 63, Arizona 22, Oregon 19, Villanova 15, George Washington 14, Clemson 9, UC Santa Barbara 9, Virginia 7, SW Missouri St. 6, Florida 5, Nebraska 5, Washington 4, Notre Dame 3, Idaho 1, Montana 1.