Five takeaways from AP Top 25 women's basketball poll

In this week's Associated Press Top 25 women's college basketball poll, there was some reshuffling in the top five after a loaded Holiday slate. Here are five takeaways from the poll, which was released on Monday.

Texas jumps to No. 2 after picking up a pair of signature wins

UConn (7-0) still remains atop the poll, but the Longhorns (8-0), up two spots to No. 2, received 10 first-place votes after taking down then-No. 3 UCLA (8-1), 76-65, and No. 2 South Carolina (7-1), 66-64, in consecutive days to win the Players Era Championship.

That was the first time in the last 25 years that a team has defeated a pair of top-three teams that quickly. Senior guard Rori Harmon was key in both wins, scoring a season-high 26 points against the Bruins and hitting the game-winning jumper with one second remaining to down the Gamecocks.

UCLA falls one spot after experiencing mixed results

Although the Bruins dropped one spot to No. 4 in this week's rankings, the week ended on a positive note following the loss to the Longhorns. UCLA routed Duke, 89-59, to take third-place in the Players Era Tournament, picking up the program's largest margin of victory against an ACC opponent since 2004.

That was followed by an emphatic 99-77 triumph over then-No. 14 Tennessee and a season-high 29 points (10-of-14 FG) from senior guard Gabriela Jaquez. UCLA now has three ranked wins to its credit and certainly looks the part of a top-five team, even after the disappointing loss to Texas.

LSU, Iowa State hold steady after historic performances

Head coach Kim Mulkey's Tigers (8-0) remain at No. 5, largely due to their weak nonconference schedule up to this point. However, LSU has scored at least 100 points in all eight of its games - the longest streak in Division-I history - and currently leads the country in points per game (112 PPG).

The Cyclones (9-0) continue to lock down the No. 10 ranking while junior center Audi Crooks rewrites the history books. Crooks broke her own school record with 47 points (19-of-25 FG) in a 106-95 win over Indiana on Sunday. This comes after she scored 43 in the first half against Valparaiso on Nov. 12.

Tennessee suffers the biggest drop

The Lady Vols (5-2), down five spots to No. 19, had won five straight until Sunday's loss to the Bruins. Both of Tennessee's losses have come against ranked opponents after losing to then-No. 9 NC State in its season-opener.

In both defeats, Tennessee gave up at least 80 points, something it has not come close to doing in the five wins, and committed 20 turnovers in the loss to UCLA, which must be cleaned up going forward.

Ohio State joins the poll at No. 23

After picking up a key win over then-No. 21 West Virginia, 83-81, in which they held the Mountaineers to just 24% shooting from long-range, the Buckeyes (6-1) have won four straight since their 32-point setback against UConn on Nov. 16. A lot of that success has come from the efficient play of sophomore guard Jaloni Cambridge, who is averaging team-highs in points (19.9 PPG) and assists (3.3 APG).