Lincoln - The Nebraska women's basketball team, fresh off one of its biggest victories in school history, vaulted into the Associated Press Top 25 in this week's ranking released on Monday afternoon. The Huskers (14-3 overall, 4-2 Big 12) claimed the No. 25 spot in the poll, marking the program's first top-25 AP ranking since Nov. 15, 1999.
Nebraska rolled to an 81-63 victory over then-No. 9 Kansas State in Lincoln on Saturday in front of a crowd of more than 5,000 fans and a national television audience on Fox Sports Net. The Huskers led by as many as 25 points against the Wildcats, who were the highest-ranked team NU has ever defeated at the Devaney Center.
The Huskers had only defeated two other top-10 teams in school history, No. 10 Texas in Lincoln in December of 1982 and No. 9 Iowa at the Big Kona Classic in Hawaii in December of 1996.
Nebraska is one of seven Big 12 Conference teams ranked in this week's AP top 25, joining No. 3 Texas, No. 7 Texas Tech, No. 11 Colorado, No. 12 Kansas State, No. 16 Baylor and No. 20 Oklahoma. The Huskers play host to the third-ranked Longhorns (17-2, 5-1) in Lincoln on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m., before closing the week at No. 16 Baylor on Saturday.
The Huskers' top-25 ranking this week marks the latest accomplishment in an amazing turnaround this season. Last season, Nebraska battled through an 8-20 overall record and a 1-15 conference mark, while playing with only a handful of scholarship players in Coach Yori's first season.
Nebraska has already guaranteed itself a .500 record this season and is on the brink of its first winning season and highest victory total since 1999-2000, when NU finished 18-13 overall and 10-6 in the Big 12 to advance to the NCAA Tournament.