Tennessee tops women's poll Maryland is 15th

Defending NCAA champion Tennessee was an overwhelming choice as the No. 1 team in The Associated Press preseason women's basketball poll announced yesterday. The leader received 61 first-place votes and 1,787 points from a nationwide panel of 72 women's basketball coaches.

The University of Maryland (17-13), which returns seven of its top eight from last year's national tournament team, and has newcomers ready to make a solid showing, checked in at No. 15, with 658 votes.

"This will be a motivation for us," coach Chris Weller said of the ranking. "I think we have potential, but we're not [listed] top 10. We are going to have to prove that. It feels good to be ranked in what I consider is a nice solid position -- top 15."