Five takeaways from AP Top 25 women's basketball poll

In this week's Associated Press Top 25 women's basketball poll, released on Monday, one program fell out of the top five after its first conference loss while another moved up following a historic performance on Sunday.

Here are five takeaways from the poll:

USC falls three spots after shocking loss to Iowa

On an emotional day that saw the Hawkeyes retire former Iowa star Caitlin Clark's jersey, the Trojans (19-2, 9-1 Big Ten), down three spots to No. 7 in the poll, found themselves trailing 23-4 about three minutes into the second quarter.

Before Sunday's four-point outing in the opening quarter, USC had gone 116 straight quarters with at least 10 points, which was the fourth-longest active streak in Division I. The team's 18 turnovers and poor three-point shooting (29.2%) were concerning against Iowa and could be a problem going forward with a pair of games against No. 1 UCLA remaining on the schedule. Those areas must improve if the Trojans are going to make a deep run in March.

Kentucky moves up one spot after historic week

One game removed from the program's monumental 500th win at Historic Memorial Coliseum, Kentucky (19-2, 8-1 SEC), up one spot to No. 11, was not through making history.

Senior guard Georgia Amoore tied the program record and set a career-high with 43 points (15-of-22 FG) and eight assists in Sunday's 95-86 win over previously-No. 13 Oklahoma. With her historic performance, Amoore became the first SEC player with at least 40 points and five assists in a game since Texas A&M's Chennedy Carter in 2017.

Off to its best start since 2021, Kentucky has made at least nine threes in each game during its three-game winning streak, including 14 against Oklahoma. The only concern down the stretch could be the team's rebounding after losing that battle, 50-34, to the Sooners on Sunday.

North Carolina's defense continues to vault it up rankings

During a 69-67 win over Stanford on Sunday, the Tar Heels (20-4, 8-3 ACC), up two spots to No. 13, again displayed their ACC-leading defense (54.7 PPG), though the 67 points were tied for the most North Carolina has allowed in a conference win this season.

With all four of their losses coming to currently ranked teams, the Tar Heels have built a solid resume up to this point. While no player on the team is averaging more than 11.6 PPG, five players are putting up an average of at least eight points. If the defense can hold up and keep the remaining games around 70 points or less, North Carolina has proven multiple times that it can win those contests.

Georgia Tech moves up three spots, continues to limit turnovers

Since a three-game losing streak halted its momentum early in conference play, Georgia Tech (18-4, 6-4 ACC), up three spots to No. 17, has won three of its last four games. 

One reason for the success has been its ability to take care of the ball. The Yellow Jackets lead the ACC and are ninth in the country in assist/turnover ratio (1.47). That was on full display in a 77-66 win over Miami on Sunday. Georgia Tech had 18 assists on 29 made shots and only committed five turnovers the entire game.

If the team can continue to share the ball and limit its giveaways, it should improve on its position in the conference standings and be in contention to win each of its remaining regular season games.

Michigan State suffers biggest drop in rankings after first home loss

Following the first loss of the season on its home court, Michigan State (18-4, 8-3 Big Ten) fell four spots to No. 20 despite an 89-75 win over Northwestern to end the week.

The 63-59 loss to Oregon on Thursday was unexpected, as the Ducks had not defeated an AP-ranked opponent on the road in their last 14 tries. The Spartans fell behind 21-8 after the first quarter and only shot 33.8% from the floor. 

If Michigan State is going to keep this from happening down the stretch, it must resemble its play from Sunday, when it hit 11 threes and forced 18 turnovers in the win over the Wildcats.