The NCAA plans to stage the entire women’s basketball tournament in one geographic area and San Antonio is the likely host site.

The move, announced Monday, was made to help mitigate the risks of COVID-19 and matches that of the men’s tournament, which the NCAA said last month will be played in a single area – most likely Indianapolis.

The women’s Final Four in 2021 was already set for San Antonio and the NCAA has begun preliminary talks with the Texas city to hold the entire 64-team tournament in the area.

“Conducting the championship in one geographic region allows for more planning and execution of safeguards that provide potential benefits for promoting the health and safety of student athletes, the NCAA membership and all individuals involved in the championship,” said Nina King, the NCAA women’s basketball committee chair and senior athletic director at Duke. “By making this difficult decision now, it allows for an earlier opportunity to work proactively with local public health officials within the host communities and ensures that the identified guidelines and protocols are considered for a more controlled environment.”

The first two rounds of the women’s tournament have been played on campus sites the past few seasons with the top four seeds in each region hosting. The regionals were slated to be played this season in Albany, New York, Austin, Texas, Cincinnati and Spokane, Washington.

The NCAA expects the tournament to be played in late March and early April as usual, though there is a chance the timeframe could be shorter.

AP POLL: Stanford remained atop The Associated Press women’s basketball poll released Monday and picked up first-place votes, too.

Coach Tara VanDerveer matched Pat Summitt’s all-time win total of 1,098 with a victory on Sunday night over California that kept Stanford unbeaten. She can move into sole possession of the record on Tuesday when her team faces Pacific. It was the second consecutive week that the Cardinal were the top team in the poll. Stanford received 26 of the 30 first-place votes from a national media panel. Louisville, UConn, N.C. State and South Carolina followed Stanford as the first five remained unchanged in their position.

The Cardinal did pick up two first place ballots, including one from Connecticut. The Huskies finally got their season started after being on pause for two weeks because of the virus. UConn routed UMass-Lowell on Saturday.

Arizona remained in sixth place with Oregon moving into a tie with Baylor for seventh. The Ducks routed rival Oregon State, which lost both its games this week to fall six spots to No. 21. Kentucky was ninth and Texas A&M 10th.

(7) BAYLOR 91, TEXAS TECH 45: NaLyssa Smith had 21 points and nine rebounds and Baylor beat visiting Texas Tech in its first Big 12 home game.

DiJonai Carrington scored 13 points to help the Lady Bears (4-1, 2-0 Big 12) to a 42-4 advantage in bench scoring.

Baylor broke a 47-47 tie in the series with its 23rd consecutive victory over the Lady Raiders (3-2, 0-1).

(13) MISSISSIPPI STATE 103, TROY 76: Rickea Jackson and Sidney Cooks combined for 56 points and 12 3-pointers and host Mississippi State hit a record 18 3-pointers and rolled to a victory over Troy.

Jackson scored 30 points, four shy of her career high, going 6 of 10 from 3-point range. Cooks added a career-high 26 points, hitting 6 of 11 behind the arc. Neither had hit more than three triples in a game.

Aliyah Matharu added four 3-pointers and 16 points for the Bulldogs (3-1), who bounced back from a 67-63 loss at South Florida by making 18 of record 37 attempts behind the arc and shooting 54%.

Alexus Dye scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Troy (3-2).

(14) MARYLAND 91, RUTGERS 87: Mimi Collins scored a career-high 22 points, Diamond Miller added 19 as Maryland (4-1, 1-0 Big Ten) beat Rutgers (2-1, 1-1) to spoil Arella Guirantes’ 33-point, 10-rebound, six-assist performance at Piscataway, New Jersey.

Tied at 68, Maryland opened the fourth quarter on a 14-2 run that was capped by a Miller 3-pointer. Channise Lewis also made two 3-pointers during the spurt. Then Guirantes scored eight of Rutgers’ final 17 points as the Scarlet Knights pulled within 89-87 with 5.4 seconds left, but Lewis sealed it at the other end with two free throws.

(20) MISSOURI STATE 72, MISSOURI 58: Brice Calip and Elle Ruffridge scored 18 points apiece and Missouri State scored its last 12 points from the foul line to defeat Missouri  at Columbia, Missouri.

The Bears led by as many as 18 points in the first half but Mizzou put them in foul trouble in the third quarter and closed within 53-48 entering the fourth.

Missouri State missed its last six shots after a Ruffridge basket made it 60-52 with just under seven minutes to go. But Calip made eight free throws to lead a 12-for-12 team effort to secure the win. The Tigers missed nine straight shots until a last-minute bucket and went 2 of 14 in the final 10 minutes.

Sydney Wilson scored 11 points and Sydney Manning had 10 for Missouri State (4-1).

Ladazhia Williams scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Tigers (1-1).

FOOTBALL

WASHINGTON: Washington has pulled out of the Pac-12 football championship game due to COVID-19 issues in the Huskies program, and Oregon will now play No. 13 USC in the conference title game on Friday in Los Angeles.

Washington (3-1) announced it was withdrawing from the championship game after determining the Huskies did not have at least 53 scholarship players available and did not meet minimum number of scholarship athletes at specific positions.

Washington had to cancel its game last weekend against Oregon (3-2) that would have determined the Pac-12 North champion due to COVID-19 cases in the program that caused the Huskies to pause practice in the middle of last week.

Washington team physician Dr. Kim Harmon said the program has continued to see positive cases over the past several days and says in a statement that “combined with issues with a key position group doesn’t allow for a path forward.”

Washington was named Pac-12 North champs by virtue of having a better winning percentage than Oregon.

MICHIGAN: Coach Jim Harbaugh says his team had a lot of “energy and enthusiasm” when it was cleared to practice for the first time since a COVID-19 outbreak broke out within the program.

Harbaugh says the Wolverines practiced on Sunday and would again on Monday before taking a break for final exams on Tuesday.

He says practice will continue later in the week to prepare to play at No. 18 Iowa on Saturday night. Harbaugh declines to say how many players will be unavailable to compete against the Hawkeyes, citing privacy.

Michigan’s previous two games were canceled due to 16 people within the program testing positive for the coronavirus, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the school was not releasing details of the outbreak.

TROY: Troy’s season finale against Louisiana-Monroe has been canceled because the Warhawks don’t have enough available players.

The announcement Monday marked the second time it has happened due to COVID-19 issues at ULM. The original meeting had been postponed until Thursday night. That likely means the end of the season for the Trojans. They are 5-6 and 3-4 in Sun Belt Conference play after a 42-38 loss to No. 10 Coastal Carolina last weekend.

VANDERBILT: Vanderbilt is negotiating a deal with Notre Dame defensive coordinator Clark Lea to make the former Commodores player its new head coach.

Two people with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press details of a contract were still being worked out but Lea was the school’s top choice.

The 38-year-old Lea is a Nashville native who played baseball at Birmingham-Southern and Belmont before walking on as a fullback at Vanderbilt, where he played from 2002-04. He started coaching at UCLA and also has coached at South Dakota State, Bowling Green, Syracuse and Wake Forest.

Lea has been Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator for the last three seasons.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

BUFFALO: Coach Jim Whitesell will self-quarantine for 14 days after being in close contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19.

Whitesell says he has tested negative for the novel coronavirus, but is taking leave from the Mid-American Conference team to follow local health protocols. The school issued the coach’s announcement on Monday, after Whitesell coached the Bulls from the stands rather than the bench in a home-opening 81-64 win over Mercyhurst on Thursday.

Whitesell says the person who tested positive is not associated with the team or school. He will continue communicating with his staff and players remotely, while assistant Angres Thorpe takes over in Whitesell’s absence.

WAKE FOREST says it plans to begin holding men’s basketball practices on Sunday after a pause due to COVID-19 issues.

The school announced a schedule Monday for returning to team activities. After returning to practice, the Demon Deacons would be scheduled to play Syracuse on Dec. 30. They haven’t played since beating Longwood on Nov. 27. Four straight games have been canceled or postponed, including Wednesday’s originally scheduled opener for Atlantic Coast Conference play against No. 17 Virginia and next week’s scheduled home game with VMI.

In a statement, coach Steve Forbes said the plan allows for most players to return to practice this weekend, depending on their ability to clear all required protocols.

“No one will step on the court until our medical team says they are cleared to do so,” Forbes said.

FLORIDA: Forward Keyontae Johnson was “following simple commands” Monday after being transferred from Tallahassee Memorial to UF Health in Gainesville, the school said.

Officials added that Johnson is undergoing further tests and remains in critical but stable condition two days after he collapsed on the court during a game at Florida State. Johnson was moved to Gainesville with his mother by his side via helicopter.

Gators Coach Mike White and head athletic trainer Dave Werner, who stayed in Tallahassee for two nights, returned to Gainesville on the school’s jet with other family members Monday.

USA Today quoted Johnson’s grandfather, Larry DeJarnett, as saying the player had been in a medically induced coma.

The Southeastern Conference’s preseason player of the year crumpled to the floor and received emergency medical attention. He was moved to a stretcher and carried to a waiting ambulance as teammates, coaches, staff, fans and others watched in disbelief Saturday.

(19) RUTGERS 74, MARYLAND 60: Ron Harper Jr. scored 19 of his 27 points in the second half, and Rutgers won its Big Ten opener for the first time in school history, grinding past host Maryland .

The Scarlet Knights (5-0, 1-0) broke open a tight game with a 10-0 run that made it 50-38 with 11:49 left. Myles Johnson started and ended the spree with dunks, and Harper contributed a 3-pointer.

Donta Scott scored 20 and Eric Ayala added 12 for Maryland (4-2, 0-1), which finished in a tie atop the conference last season.