Illinois State coach Robin Pingeton hopes her team’s first Top25 appearance in more than 19 years is just a starting point.

The Redbirds, winners of 13 in a row after two more victoriesthis past week, entered The Associated Press poll at No. 24 onMonday – the first time they’ve appeared since Dec. 5, 1988.

”We wanted to put Illinois State on the map and be wellrespected,” Pingeton said. ”To be in the Top 25 and compete inthe NCAA tournament year in and year out are the visions of theprogram. Being ranked is a great honor, but we don’t want to besatisfied or a one-week wonder.”

Connecticut remained the unanimous No. 1 for the fourthconsecutive week, with Tennessee and North Carolina again rankedsecond and third, respectively.

It’s the 100th time the Huskies have held the top spot – onlyTennessee, with 111, has been No. 1 more often.

The Huskies are one of seven Big East schools in the poll. Theothers are No. 4 Rutgers, No. 12 West Virginia, No. 14 Pittsburgh,No. 20 Notre Dame, No. 23 Syracuse and No. 24 DePaul.

”To have seven teams recognized in the Associated Press Poll isa great achievement,” Big East commissioner Michael Tranghesesaid. ”There is still a lot of basketball to be played thisseason, but we are confident our teams will continue to excel at ahigh level.”

Connecticut rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to beatNorth Carolina 82-71 last Monday. The Huskies then routed NotreDame on Sunday to remain undefeated.

Illinois State (17-1) is the newcomer this week. The Redbirdshave won 13 straight and tied the school record with 11 consecutiveroad victories. Their lone loss came in a home loss to DePaul onNov. 29.

”It’s been a special year,” Pingeton said. ”I’m so happy forour girls. When we took over this program five years ago we wantedto build this program to be the best it could be.”

Since 1989, the Redbirds have reached the NCAA tournament once.In 2005, they won the Missouri Valley Conference tournament afterfinishing eighth in the regular season.

The Redbirds play host to Drake on Thursday.

”This will be a tough matchup for us,” Pingeton said. ”Drakewas picked first in the conference and in conference teams are sofamiliar with the tendencies and personnel.”

The second-ranked Lady Vols visit No. 9 Duke in a Top 10 matchupMonday night. North Carolina held its spot after splitting gameswith Connecticut and Maryland.

Rutgers moved up to No. 4, followed by Maryland, Baylor,Stanford, LSU, Duke and California, which fell two spots to No. 10after a loss at Stanford on Saturday.

Oklahoma was No. 11, followed by West Virginia, Old Dominion,Pittsburgh and Wyoming. Pitt jumped five places and Wyoming threeto gain their highest rankings ever.

George Washington moved up to No. 16, followed by Georgia,Kansas State, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Syracuse,DePaul, Illinois State and Texas.

The Longhorns returned to the Top 25 after falling out lastweek. Georgia Tech and Texas A&M dropped out.