St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Remains In AP's Top 15 With No. 14 Ranking
3/12/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 12, 2012
QUEENS, N.Y. - St. John's continues to be recognized among women's basketball's elite programs as the Red Storm remains in the Associated Press' top 25 poll as No. 14, as announced by officials from the AP on Monday.
Monday's poll vote is the final one for the 2011-12 season as St. John's receives its highest-ranking in a final AP poll. Previously, the Red Storm's highest end-of-season ranking was No. 15 in 2010.
The ranking comes hours prior to Selection Monday's live bracket-reveal on ESPN as the Red Storm awaits its fate in the 2012 field of 64.
Ranked for four-straight weeks, St. John's entered the AP poll at No. 20 on Feb. 20 after defeating then-No. 2 Connecticut, 57-56 in Storrs, Conn., ending the Huskies 99-game home winning streak. Since then, the Red Storm moved up to No. 18 then jumped five places to No. 13 on March 5, for the highest-ever ranking in school history. St. John's was a preseason pick in the AP's top 25 as No. 25. It is the 30th appearance in the Associated Press poll for the Red Storm, including preseason and final poll rankings.
St. John's was also ranked No. 21 in the final version of the USA Today-ESPN Coaches Poll, also released on Monday. The Red Storm has been No. 21 for the final three weeks of the regular season after entering the poll at No. 25 on Feb. 20.
In both polls, undefeated Baylor (34-0) remains as No. 1 for the 15th-straight week. Both polls feature Stanford as No. 2, Connecticut as No. 3 and Notre Dame as No. 4.
Head coach Kim Barnes Arico, who recently became St. John's all-time winningest coach, and was voted the 2012 BIG EAST Coach of the Year, has received the most national attention of any of her St. John's predecessors. With Barnes Arico at the helm of the Red Storm program, St. John's has been ranked 23 times, including preseason rankings.