Dawn Staley and South Carolina are back in a familiar spot: No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 women's basketball poll.

It's the second consecutive season that the Gamecocks are the preseason favorite.

“With who we brought back and who added for this season, we knew we would start out among the hunted, and it’s something that our program is getting used to," said Staley, who is going into her 14th season as South Carolina coach. "Watching practice every day, I can see that we have the pieces and the competitive fire to reach all of our goals. We have a few more weeks to put those pieces together into a cohesive, successful team that can live up to this preseason ranking.”

The Gamecocks received 14 of the 29 first-place votes from a national media panel in Tuesday's poll. UConn was second, garnering 10 first-place ballots. It's the 15th consecutive season that the Huskies were among the top five teams in the preseason.

Defending national champion Stanford was third, getting the other five first-place votes. Maryland and North Carolina State rounded out the top five.

It's been a busy few days for Staley. The school announced a new, seven-year contract that will pay her $2.9 million this season and grow to $3.5 million in the final season. She also believes the $22.4 million deal should make an impact on her sport and in the equality of what men and women’s coaches and athletes receive from their schools.

HOOSIER HYSTERIA

Indiana is No. 8, the school's highest ranking ever in women's basketball. There's a lot of excitement around Bloomington, with all five starters returning from a team that went to the Elite Eight last year and had its sixth straight 20-win season.

“It's great recognition for our program and a testament to our team and how they continued to get better throughout one of the most difficult and challenging seasons we had in the history of women's basketball,” Indiana coach Teri Moren said. “We believe we have much to prove and are looking forward to what we know will be a challenging season in both non-conference as well as what we'll see in the Big Ten.”

RISING WOLVERINES

Michigan also tied its best ranking ever, coming in at No. 11. The Wolverines return three starters, including Naz Hillmon, from the squad that lost to Baylor in overtime in the Sweet 16 last season.

Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico called the ranking an honor and said her team was eager to build on the momentum from last spring.

“We have been able to take steps forward and grow as a program the past few seasons, doing things that had never been done before,” she said. "Showing that consistency year in and year out is the sign of a great program, not just a great team.”

HEARTLAND HOPES

There are high expectations in Iowa this year: The Hawkeyes are No. 9 and Iowa State is No. 12.

Iowa, led by star guard Caitlin Clark, has its its highest preseason ranking since the team was sixth in 1996.

Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly has a bulk of his starting five back, including Ashley Joens and Lexi Donarski. It's the team's best ranking in the preseason since 2001, when the Cyclones were eighth.

CONFERENCE WATCH

The Pac-12, Big Ten and ACC each have five ranked teams, tops in the nation:

Joining No. 4 Maryland, No. 8 Indiana, No. 9 Iowa and No. 11 Michigan is No. 17 Ohio State for the Big Ten.

In the Pac-12, No. 3 Stanford is joined by No. 10 Oregon, No. 14 Oregon State, No. 20 UCLA and No. 22 Arizona.

The ACC has No. 5 N.C. State, No. 6 Louisville, No. 16 Florida State, No. 17 Georgia Tech and No. 24 Virginia Tech.

The SEC has four teams with No. 13 Kentucky, No. 15 Tennessee and No. 23 Texas A&M joining top-ranked South Carolina. The Big 12 also has four programs ranked, led by No. 7 Baylor with new head coach Nicki Collen. The Bears are joined by the Cyclones, No. 19 West Virginia and No. 25 Texas.

The only non-Power Five team in the poll is No. 21 South Florida out of the American Athletic Conference.

TIP-INS

Georgia Tech is ranked for the third time ever in the preseason (2009, 2012). ... Virginia Tech is in the preseason poll for only the second time ever, joining the 1999 squad that was ranked 17th.

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SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Washington State fired football coach Nick Rolovich and four of his assistants on Monday for refusing a state mandate that all employees get vaccinated against COVID-19, making him the first major college coach to lose his job over vaccination status.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, had set a deadline of Monday for thousands of state employees, including the Cougars’ coach, to be vaccinated. Rolovich applied for a religious exemption, which was denied Monday, Washington State athletic director Pat Chun said.

Defensive coordinator Jake Dickert will be elevated to acting coach and his first game in charge will be Saturday at home against BYU.

“This is a tough day for Washington State football,” Chun said at a news conference. “Nobody wants to be here."

Also fired for refusing vaccination were assistant coaches Ricky Logo, John Richardson, Craig Stutzmann and Mark Weber. Chun said there may be no precedent for a team losing its head coach and so many assistants in the middle of a season.

“Our student-athletes are the biggest losers in this,” he said.

Rolovich was not immediately available for comment.

The 42-year-old Rolovich was the highest-paid state employee with an annual salary of more than $3 million in a contract that runs through 2025. He had said he wouldn't get vaccinated but wouldn't specify his reasons. He was the only unvaccinated head coach in the Pac-12 and had worn a mask during games.

Rolovich was fired for cause, which means the university does not have to honor the rest of his contract, although lawsuits over the decision are likely. The Washington State athletic department is currently facing a shortfall of more than $30 million.

Around the country, many college football coaches have publicly advocated for vaccination, including Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and Alabama’s Nick Saban. Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin said not getting vaccinated would be irresponsible and bragged about his team being 100% vaccinated.

Many coaches have talked about their teams’ high vaccination rates, though schools are not under any obligation to share those numbers.

Unlike last season, when COVID-19 cases swept through major college football, postponing and canceling games weekly, no games have needed to be rescheduled because of a COVID-19 outbreak.

Rolovich was hired from Hawaii two years ago, after Mike Leach left for Mississippi State, and led Washington State to a 1-3 record in the Pac-12 in a 2020 season cut short because of the pandemic. Washington State has won its past three games and is 4-3 this season, including a 34-31 win over Stanford last Saturday. He finishes with a 5-6 record at the Pullman campus in southeastern Washington.

Rolovich revealed in July that he would not get vaccinated and couldn’t attend Pac-12 media day in person because of it.

He said in mid-August that he intended to follow the new mandate requiring vaccinations for every state employee but repeatedly declined to say how.

After refusing for weeks to reveal his plans, Rolovich on Oct. 9 confirmed he was seeking a religious exemption to the mandate. He has not specified his religious beliefs.

Chun said he met with Rolovich over a period of several months, but could not change the coach's mind.

“He was resolute in his stance,” Chun said.

Rolovich needed to prove a sincerely held religious belief that prevented him from getting vaccinated in his exemption application. The application was put before a committee that reviewed the requests without knowing names of the applicants.

To continue coaching, Rolovich needed to receive the religious exemption and also to have Chun determine that Rolovich could do his job while keeping the public safe. In addition to his work as a coach, Rolovich oversaw a youth football program and participated in promotional and fundraising events.

Dickert is in his second season as Washington State’s defensive coordinator and came to Pullman after three seasons at Wyoming. He has not previously been a head coach.

Chun said the school is looking to hire assistants immediately to fill the vacancies on the staff.

Washington State President Kirk Schulz said nearly 90% of WSU employees and 97% of students had been vaccinated. Fewer than 50 of some 10,000 employees have sought exemptions, Schulz said.

The vaccine issue has percolated all season, dividing Washington State fans and providing a continual distraction.

“There was a lot of frustration with such a prominent employee choosing to be unvaccinated,” Schulz said.

Players stood up for their coach as the season progressed. Quarterback Jayden de Laura told a sideline reporter after Saturday’s win: “Stop hating on Rolo. We love him.”

Wide receiver Travell Harris commended Rolovich after the game for being a “players’ coach.”

“He’s a coach we all love to play for,” Harris said.

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AP College Football Writer Ralph D. Russo contributed to this report.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cody Bellinger keeps erasing a forgettable regular season, with his latest big swing putting the Los Angeles Dodgers right back in the NL Championship Series.

Bellinger hit a tying, three-run homer and Mookie Betts then lined an RBI double in the Dodgers' eighth-inning rally, storming back to beat Atlanta 6-5 Tuesday and cutting the Braves’ lead in the series to 2-1.

“It's hard to remember a bigger hit, with what was at stake,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I'm kind of exhausted now.”

Some of the 51,307 fans had already left when the Dodgers were down to their final five outs and facing the daunting prospect of a 3-0 deficit in the series. Bellinger swung and missed two pitches down the middle for strikes, going to his knees in the dirt.

“Ball’s coming in hard, some shadows you’re dealing with, so I saw it well and I just tried to barrel it up,” Bellinger said. “Just continue to barrel up the ball and pass the baton.”

Bellinger drove a shoulder-high, 95.6-mph fastball from Luke Jackson into the right-field pavilion, igniting the blue towel-waving crowd and reviving the hopes of the defending World Series champions.

“Sad thing is I would do the same thing again,” Jackson said. “I was trying to throw a fastball up and away. I actually threw it better than I thought I threw it. Out of my hand, I was like, `Oh, that’s a ball. It’s too high.' And no, it wasn’t too high. Good player, put a good swing on it and pretty remarkable.”

Chris Taylor singled, stole second and moved to third on pinch-hitter Matt Beaty’s groundout. Betts followed with the double off Jesse Chavez to right-center.

“One of our strong suits is not worrying about what happened yesterday, focusing on right now,” Betts said.

Game 4 is Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.

“We can do it, we’re confident,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “There is going to be no residual effects after this game.”

The Dodgers had lost all 83 previous postseason games — in both Los Angeles and Brooklyn — in which they trailed by three or more runs in the eighth inning or later.

But that's history now. And so are Bellinger's recent struggles.

The 2019 NL MVP, Bellinger batted a miserable .165 this year with a paltry .240 on-base percentage and 94 strikeouts in 315 at-bats. He helped redeem himself last week with a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning of the decisive Game 5 of the NL Division Series against the rival Giants at San Francisco.

“Fresh start," Bellinger said of the postseason. "At least for me this year it’s a fresh start. You know, a tough regular season but you know, I felt good towards the end of the season, and just try to continue that feel all the way through.”

“Just you know, staying simple," he said. "Crazy things are happening.”

Bellinger's done this before, too. After the Dodgers overcame a 3-1 deficit against Atlanta in the NLCS last year, his tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning won Game 7.

With the cheering, chanting crowd on its feet in the ninth, Kenley Jansen struck out the side to earn the save, the ninth pitcher used by the Dodgers. They ran through a combined 15 in the first two games.

Staggered with back-to-back walk-off losses in Atlanta, the Dodgers returned home, where they've dominated the Braves in recent years and were an MLB-best 58-23 during the regular season.

The Braves haven't won at Dodger Stadium since June 8, 2018. Going back to the 2013 NLDS, the Braves have dropped 20 of their last 23 in LA — they’ve lost 10 straight in Los Angeles overall.

It sure looked like they'd end that skid after leading 5-2 in the fifth.

After Corey Seager's two-run shot gave them an early lead, the Dodgers' offense stalled out from the second to eighth innings, with only five hits.

“It’s never going to just be easy and handed to us,” Bellinger said. “We got to fight for it.”

But the wild-card winner staged another improbable comeback late, just like the Dodgers have done so often this postseason.

They beat St. Louis in the NL wild-card game, then edged 107-win San Francisco in the NLDS.

Despite trailing the best-of-seven series, the Dodgers have grabbed the momentum. They’re at home for the next two games, knowing they overcame that 3-1 deficit against the Braves in last year’s NLCS at a neutral site in Arlington, Texas.

The Braves built their lead with a bunch of singles, pounding out 12 hits, and a dropped flyball by novice center fielder Gavin Lux.

Freddie Freeman broke out of his slump, going 3 for 4 with a walk and a run scored after he struck out seven times in eight at-bats in the first two games.

Adam Duvall went 2 for 5, driving in two runs and scoring another for the Braves. Every Atlanta batter got on base at least once.

Tony Gonsolin got the victory, recording one out in relief.

Jackson took the loss after getting hammered in the eighth.

Eddie Rosario and Freeman jump-started the Braves with back-to-back singles off Walker Buehler to open the game.

The Braves quieted the crowd of 51,307 while knocking around Buehler and taking a 4-2 lead in the fourth.

Atlanta got RBI singles from Joc Pederson, Duvall and Dansby Swanson, and Buehler walked Rosario on four pitches with the bases loaded to force in another run.

Swanson’s hit off his former Vanderbilt teammate went off the glove of shortstop Seager and rolled into left, allowing Pederson to score the go-ahead run as the Braves batted around.

Seager’s wasn’t the only miscue in the fourth. Lux chased Austin Riley’s double to the warning track in right-center only to have the ball go off his glove to keep the inning going.

Buehler got yanked after walking Rosario. Working on two extra days’ rest, Buehler allowed four runs and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings. The right-hander struck out three and walked three on 76 pitches.

Buehler pitched on short rest for the first time in his career in Game 4 of the NLDS. He didn’t the win, but the Dodgers tied the series and forced a deciding fifth game.

Atlanta extended its lead to 5-2 in the fifth on Duvall’s RBI single that scored Ozzie Albies, who walked and stole second.

The Dodgers had Charlie Morton on the ropes in the first, when he tied a postseason record with four walks on 34 pitches. The right-hander walked leadoff hitter Betts and Seager followed with a homer to center for a 2-0 lead.

Morton then loaded the bases on consecutive two-out walks to Justin Turner, Lux and Bellinger before Taylor lined out to short to end the inning.

Morton allowed two runs and three hits in five innings. The right-hander struck out five and walked six.

SOUND FROM SCULLY

Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully gave the traditional pregame call of “It’s time for Dodger baseball!” via video from his Los Angeles-area home. He then tapped his fist on his heart, drawing cheers from the crowd. Scully, who turns 94 next month, retired in 2016 after 67 years calling games for the franchise in Brooklyn and LA.

UP NEXT

LHP Julio Urías starts for the Dodgers in Game 4 on Wednesday. The Braves were planning a bullpen game.

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It started in 1946 with 11 teams and 160 players. The shot clock was nearly a decade away, the 3-point line was a couple generations away. Buildings were smaller. So were the players. And it wasn’t even called the National Basketball Association.

The NBA, 75 years ago, was different in almost every imaginable way.

Over the coming months, The Associated Press will look back at what the league was on and off the court, how it became what it is and where it’ll be going over the next 25 years as it moves toward the century mark.

The series will recall those humble beginnings, with Ossie Schectman — who scored the first basket in league history — making $60 a game. It’ll show how what was happening in the country seemed to mirror what was happening in the league, from the league’s path toward integrating in the 1950s, to its stance on social issues and race relations today.

In those earliest of years, teams lost plenty of money. Some of the inaugural franchises only had inaugural seasons, folding after Year 1. There was no robust following and the NBA had little to no impact on societal issues.

And all the players were white.

“None of us who were playing at that time knew what this would be,” Schectman, who played for the original New York Knicks, said in a 2010 interview, three years before his death. “We didn’t know if this was going to work out and become something.”

Schectman scored the first basket in Basketball Association of America history; it wasn’t called the NBA until three years later, but the NBA counts those years as part of its own. It was an underhand layup for the Knicks in a game at the Toronto Huskies on Nov. 1, 1946, the first two points of 13.7 million in league history and counting.

In time, Schectman got his answer: The NBA, indeed, would become something.

Today, the 30 NBA franchises are worth at least $100 billion combined, possibly much more than that. The league has a fan base that stretches to each corner of the globe and a reputation of being a leader when it comes to social issues.

Richard Lapchick, the son of former New York Knicks coach Joe Lapchick and researcher on social and racial issues within sport, said the league's platform has always provided an opportunity to be a conduit for change — perhaps never more so than now.

“I genuinely believe that the NBA, with Adam Silver as its current leader, is in this for the right reasons and has the support of the largest integrated labor force in America in terms of percentage of the population," Lapchick said. “They're also very wealthy, so they can use their resources — and this is new — to invest in social justice campaigns in their communities."

There has been a major commitment by players to spark change in recent years, from additional and almost unprecedented levels of support for historically Black colleges and universities, to LeBron James leading a voting rights and registration push that wound up playing a significant role in the 2020 presidential election.

Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer believes he knows why basketball tends to make such an impact on society.

“I’ll say something a little silly,” Ballmer said. “How many sports can you really see the players? Football, you’ve got helmets on. Baseball players are quite remote, in center field. Even soccer, hockey, you have guys who are moving super-fast with helmets. People can relate to the players in basketball. You can see them. You can feel them.

“There’s fewer players which means you get more interviews and get to know certain personalities more than you would in just about any other sport,” he added. “Actually, that’s a significantly important aspect of why basketball becomes much more at the forefront of societal change.”

Like with many things, the early days were the toughest.

The Philadelphia Warriors — now the Golden State Warriors — won the league’s first title in 1947, over the Chicago Stags. By the time the next season started, four of the 11 original teams had folded; the league added a team from Baltimore and played with eight franchises for the second season.

A 60-game schedule was pared down to 48 to save money on travel. Maurice Podoloff, a hockey executive who was the BAA’s first president and ultimately the first NBA commissioner, was tasked with saving the league and winning a battle with the rival National Basketball League for players and attention.

In May 1948, the battle was won. Four teams left the NBL — Indianapolis, Rochester, Fort Wayne and Minneapolis, who had arguably the biggest name in basketball at the time with George Mikan — for the BAA.

“Maurice Podoloff charted the unknown for the NBA,” the late David Stern, who was the NBA commissioner for 30 years, said when Podoloff died. “He took an idea and nurtured professional basketball through its formative years. It is through the efforts of sporting pioneers like Podoloff that the NBA has become an everyday part of the American sporting scene.”

By 1949, the NBA had turned a corner. The league was up to 17 teams, more than doubling what it was. Teams were turning profits. The rebranding to the NBA was complete. And with the evolution in the boardrooms complete, it was time to evolve on the floor as well.

While the race barrier had been broken — Wat Misaka, a Japanese-American player, was drafted and played for the Knicks in 1947 — it was barely noticed, in part because he played only three games. The first Black players were three years away from joining the league, changing the face of the game for good.

As the country was changing, moving on from World War II and into the civil rights movement, the NBA was in lockstep. Change then led to unrest and division, just as it did in recent years across the U.S. But the NBA pressed on, then and now.

“That’s what this country is all about and should be about,” NBA great and Basketball Hall of Famer Jerry West said. “It’s about fair play. And for years, there hasn’t been a lot of fair play in this country. I think the NBA has been a front-liner in that, and it’s great to see.”

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CHICAGO (AP) — Candace Parker returned home to bring Chicago a championship. She did just that leading the Sky to the franchise’s first title.

Allie Quigley scored 26 points and Parker added 16 points, 13 rebounds and five assists and Chicago beat the Phoenix Mercury 80-74 on Sunday in Game 4.

“We were down nine, down 11 and we stayed with it,” Parker said. “So proud of this group. Sloot doing what she does all year. Allie its amazing.”

Courtney Vandersloot added 10 points and 15 assists for the Sky, who won the series 3-1, rallying from a 72-65 deficit with 4:42 left. Chicago scored the next nine points to take a two-point lead on Stefanie Dolson's layup. She then added another basket to make it 76-72 with 45.8 seconds left.

Diana Taurasi was fouled on the next possession shooting a 3-pointer and made the first two free throws, but missed the third.

Vandersloot then scored in the lane to seal the victory setting off the celebration. As the final buzzer sounded, Parker sprinted to the corner of the court and hugged her family with tears in her eyes.

“Their defense went to another level trapping BG,” Phoenix coach Sandy Brondello said. “We got some good looks, layups. we missed them and they made them. Allie really changed the momentum of the game there.”

Quigley, who also hails from Illinois, got the decisive run started and Parker tied the game with a 3-pointer before Dolson's baskets.

It was a full-circle moment for Parker, who triumphantly returned home to Chicago this season after spending 13 years with Los Angeles. She has been continually called the Sky’s missing piece throughout the playoffs, a label she proved accurate many times during Chicago’s stunning run, winning the title as a six-seed.

“It feels amazing. My high school coach is here,” Parker said. “I know Pat’s (Summitt) watching. Got the whole city here. We got the whole city here. We are champions for life now.”

Brittney Griner was a focal point of Phoenix’s offense early on. The seven-time All-Star finished the game with 28 points, 18 of which came in the first half. Griner and guard Skylar Diggins-Smith helped lead a 9-0 run to finish the second quarter and give Phoenix a 44-37 edge at halftime.

Parker initially had trouble getting into a rhythm offensively, going one for six from the floor with just four points by the end of the first half.

Kahleah Copper, who had been a force in the first four games of the finals, earned MVP honors of the championship.

GETTING TECHNICAL

Emotions were high for both teams right from the start, as Taurasi and Sky forward Kahleah Copper were each hit with technical fouls within a 50-second span in the first quarter.

PACKED HOUSE

The Sky drew a sell-out crowd despite the Chicago Bears hosting the rival Green Bay Packers just down the street at Soldier Field. Chance the Rapper was once again in attendance to support his hometown team.

TIP-INS:

Chicago coach James Wade became the third Black male coach to win a WNBA championship, joining Michael Cooper who did it with the Los Angeles Sparks and Corey Gaines, who did it with Phoenix. ... Phoenix had been 4-0 in the WNBA Finals after losses until Sunday's defeat.

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