Minnesota’s women’s basketball team is ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since 2019.

In head coach Dawn Plitzuweit’s second season, the Gophers are ranked No. 24 after starting the season 16-1 overall, the program’s best 17-game start in program history, and 4-1 in the Big Ten — their best conference start since 2014-15.

The Gophers play at No. 8 Maryland on Wednesday. Tip off is set for 6 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network.

The last time Minnesota’s women appeared in the AP poll was on Dec. 30, 2019, when the Gophers were ranked No. 24 after 12 straight wins. They earned 45 points in this week’s poll, which was released Monday.

Five other Big Ten Teams appeared in the rankings: No. 1 UCLA, No. 4 USC, No. 8 Maryland, No. 9 Ohio State, and No. 22 Michigan State.

Annika Stewart (11 ppg.), Grace Grocholski (10.7) and Tori McKinney (10.3) are scoring in double figures for the Gophers. Mallory Heyer leads with team in rebounding (6.9 per game), and Amaya Battle has a team-high 72 assists in 17 games.

— Staff report

Men’s college basketball

Auburn rises to No. 1 in AP Top 25

Auburn has climbed to No. 1 inthe Associated Press men’s basketball poll for its second stint at the top in program history, while fellow Southeastern Conference program Georgia is in the rankings for the first time in 14 years.

Bruce Pearl’s Tigers (15-1) claimed 60 of 62 first-place votes to rise one spot Monday after previous No. 1 Tennessee suffered its first loss of the season, falling at Florida, to end a five-week reign at the top.

Iowa State rose one spot to No. 2, reaching its highest ranking in program history, followed by Duke, Alabama and Florida. The Blue Devils and Gators each claimed a first-place vote.

WNBA

Man charged with stalking Fever’s Clark

Authorities in Indianapolis have charged a 55-year-old Texas man with felony stalking of Indiana Fever star and WNBA rookie of the year Caitlin Clark.

Michael Thomas Lewis is accused of repeated and continued harassment of the 22-year-old Clark beginning on Dec. 16, the Marion County prosecutor’s office wrote in a court filing Saturday. Jail records show Lewis is due in court on Tuesday.

Lewis posted numerous messages on Clark’s X account, according to an affidavit from a Marion County sheriff’s lieutenant.

In one, he said he had been driving by the Gainbridge Fieldhouse — one of the arenas where the Fever plays home games — three times day, and in another he said he had “one foot on a banana peel and the other on a stalking charge.” Other messages directed at Clark were sexually explicit.

College football

Md. recruit Ozuma reopens recruitment

Maryland prep recruit Kenedy Uzoma backed off his commitment to the Gophers football program on Monday.

The three-star prospect from Lanham, Md., said on X: “I would like to thank … Minnesota and its staff for the opportunity they have given me. With that being said, I would like to announce that I have 100% opened my recruiting back up!”

Recruiting services have Uzoma listed as a defensive lineman, but the 6-foot-5, 205-pound player called himself a “versatile” receiver in his social media post.

Minnesota now has three commitments for the 2026 class, including linemen Andrew Trout of Cold Spring and Howie Johnson of Forest Lake, along with quarterback Owen Lansu of Downers Grove, Ill.

— Andy Greder

MLB

Sasaki out on Yankees, Rangers, Giants

The New York Yankees, Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants have been informed Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki won’t be signing with them.

Giants general manager Zack Minasian announced during a news conference to introduce Justin Verlander that San Francisco no longer was in contention.

Sasaki’s decision to eliminate the Yankees and Rangers was disclosed to the Associated Press by people familiar with the negotiations. They spoke on condition of anonymity because Sasaki’s intention to sign elsewhere had not been announced. The decision regarding New York was first reported by the Yankees’ YES Network.

BRIEFLY

NBA >> The Philadelphia 76ers will partner with Comcast Spectacor, their current landlord, to build a new arena in South Philadelphia and abandon a deal with the city to move downtown.

— From news services