Nov. 8, 2004

NEW YORK, NY - The Baylor women's basketball team is picked No. 8 in the 2004-05 Associated Press Preseason Top 25 as released on Monday evening. The ranking is Baylor's highest-ever preseason Associated Press listing, the Lady Bears were 13th in the 1976-77 preseason poll. Baylor broke out of the gate at No. 15 in 1977-78 and was 14th at the beginning of the 2001-02 season.

Baylor's highest-ever Associated Press ranking came during the 2001-02 campaign when the team was No. 7 for four weeks. Baylor finished the 2003-04 season with a record of 26-9 and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time in school history. Four starters and the top three scorers from that squad return for 2004-05.

Tennessee ranks No. 1 and is followed in the top five by Texas, LSU, Connecticut and Georgia. Duke, Stanford, Baylor North Carolina and Notre Dame round out the top 10.

Baylor will open the season by taking on No. 3 LSU on Sunday, Nov. 14 in the State Farm Tip-Off Classic in Austin, Texas. The game, which will be televised nationally by ESPN2, begins at 12:30 p.m. No. 2 Texas will take on No. 21 Penn State in the second game of the Classic.

The following is a complete list of top 25 teams in The Associated Press' women's preseason college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, 2003-04 records, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last year's final ranking:

                   Record        Pts      Pv1. Tennessee (20)  31-4         1,085      22. Texas (7)       30-5         1,056      43. LSU (12)        27-8         1,053     194. Connecticut (6) 31-4         1,017      65. Georgia         25-10          887     166. Duke            30-4           838      17. Stanford        27-7           827     108. BAYLOR          26-9           794     159. North Carolina  24-7           696     1210. Notre Dame     21-11          635      -10. Ohio St.       21-10          635     2112. Texas Tech     25-8           633     1413. Vanderbilt     26-8           525     1314. Minnesota      25-9           489     2415. Michigan St.   22-9           428     2316. Purdue         29-4           423      317. Rutgers        21-12          407      -18. Boston College 27-7           376     1819. Kansas St.     25-6           358      820. DePaul         23-7           248      -21. Penn St.       28-6           217      522. Oklahoma       24-9           182     1123. Maryland       18-13          166      -24. Arizona        24-9           156      -25. Louisiana Tech 29-3           137      7

Others receiving votes: UCLA 96, Villanova 55, Chattanooga 38, Utah 38, SW Missouri St. 29, UNLV 14, Auburn 13, Old Dominion 11, TCU 11, Virginia Tech 9, UC Santa Barbara 8, Middle Tennessee 7, Arizona St. 4, New Mexico 4, Florida 3, Richmond 3, Creighton 2, Miami 2, Virginia 2, Wis.-Green Bay 2, George Washington 1, Houston 1, Louisville 1, Mississippi 1, Mississippi St. 1, Montana 1.