UConn's Geno Auriemma Ties Stanford Legend Tara VanDerveer's WCBB AP Poll Record

The novelty of seeing UConn in the women's AP Top 25 poll wore off a long time ago, but the Huskies' inclusion this week is worth celebrating.

The Associated Press' Doug Feinberg noted this is the 627th time the school has been ranked by AP voters during Geno Auriemma's tenure as head coach. That ties him with Tara VanDerveer for the all-time record.

UConn sits seventh in the Week 9 poll after improving to 11-2 with a 67-41 victory Sunday over Providence. Senior guard Paige Bueckers finished with 23 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals in 27 minutes on the floor. Forward Sarah Strong continued her impressive freshman campaign as well, adding 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting.

It was a strong response for the Huskies after they came up just short in their highly anticipated contest against JuJu Watkins and USC. Watkins sank a pair of free throws inside the final seconds to preserve the Trojans' 72-70 win on Dec. 21.

This time next week, Auriemma is all but guaranteed to pass VanDerveer and claim the AP poll record for himself.

UConn hits the road to play Marquette on Wednesday and then Villanova on Sunday. The Huskies will be big favorites in both matchups, and even going 0-2 may not be enough to bump them out of the Top 25 entirely for Week 10.