Blue Devil Women's Hoops Jumps to No. 7 in the AP Poll

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DURHAM, N.C. - Riding a six-game winning streak, the Duke (7-1) women's basketball team has jumped to seventh in the latest Associated Press rankings. The Blue Devils are coming off victories over third-ranked Ohio State and Southern California this past week.

Leading Duke's charge has been recent ACC Player of the Week Jasmine Thomas, who is averaging 22.0 points, 5.0 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 2.0 steals over the last four games. She has hit 10 out of her last 21 three-point field goal attempts during that streak. Thomas, who is out of Fairfax, Va., registered just the third triple-double in school history on Nov. 27 against Marquette as she notched 11 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists.

A 5-8 guard, Thomas has been on even more of a tear the last two games as she has scored a career-high 29 points and 28 points the last two contests to lead Duke to victories. Her ACC Player of the Week honor on Monday was the first of her career.

Blue Devil freshman Allison Vernerey is coming off averaging a double-double against third-ranked Ohio State and Southern California last week, which gathered her ACC Rookie of the Week accolades on Monday. She averaged 11.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.0 steals in those two contests last week.

In the latest Associated Press poll, Connecticut is No. 1 followed by Stanford, Notre Dame, Tennessee, LSU, Baylor, Duke, Xavier, Ohio State and Texas A&M. In the top 25, seven of Duke's opponents are currently listed in the rankings. Four other teams on the Blue Devils' schedule are receiving votes.

Duke is off this week for exams before traveling to second-ranked Stanford on Wednesday, Dec. 15. The Blue Devils are in a very tough stretch where they have already faced third-ranked Ohio State and Southern California before traveling to second-ranked Stanford and hosting undefeated James Madison on Dec. 18.

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