Three top 10 teams suffered losses, two top 25 teams were swept during their week of games, and six unranked teams earned victories over ranked opponents.
Most of the action took place in the ACC, although the Big Ten came in a close second. Here’s what happened this week in women’s college basketball.
The ACC brings in the first OTs
Eyebrows were raised Thursday night as Virginia Tech took Georgia Tech to two overtimes while at the same time, Tobacco Road Rivalry entered its own overtime period. Cal pulled off another signature victory, holding off NC State on the same night to remind people that Stanford isn’t the only talented team in the area entering a new conference due to realignment.
The Hokies (12-4, 3-2) broke down Georgia Tech’s defense, 105-94, en route to their first Quad 1 victory under head coach Megan Duffy’s tenure. It was the first loss of the season for the Yellow Jackets (15-2, 3-2), one of two ranked teams to be swept this week after Louisville knocked them out 69-60 on Sunday. (Iowa also lost to Illinois and Indiana.) It could very well be three straight losses for Georgia Tech as they travel to Notre Dame (14-2, 5-0) on Thursday. Player of the Year candidate Hannah Hidalgo missed Sunday’s win at Clemson with an ankle injury. It was the first absence of a sophomore.
North Carolina (15-3, 3-2) made 10 of 14 free throws in overtime to win another offensive, turnover-ripe game against its rivals, 53-46. Duke head coach Kara Lawson said “it wasn’t exactly pleasant viewing, probably for anyone,” which is an understatement about the first two weeks of the calendar year.
The Blue Devils (13-4, 4-1) blew a 16-point lead and fell short again later in the week, edging Virginia on the road, 60-55. Their offense has fallen off a cliff over the last two games – two of their worst, besides a 65-56 loss to South Florida in December. They were a total of 40 out of 134 (29.8%), including 10 out of 41 out of 3 (24%). The only positive was their ability to get into the paint against Virginia. Duke falls back on its defense more often than it should if it intends to compete for a spot in the Final Four.
The victory of the week is lower in the rankings. Pittsburgh, one of the basement programs that often feeds transfers to the top of the table, rallied from a 32-point deficit to upset SMU, 72-59, on Sunday. This matches the greatest comeback in NCAA women’s basketball history. And it was the first ACC victory of the season for the Panthers (9-9, 1-4).
South Carolina earns another definitive Quad 1 victory
The Gamecocks slammed a loud door in the Longhorns’ face on Sunday, showing everyone that the SEC is still their conference and that even an elite newcomer won’t have it easy.
The defense held Texas to 15 points below its previous season low in a 67-50 home victory Sunday. The Longhorns scored nine in the first and barely broke double figures in either of the next two quarters (13 and 12 points, respectively).
Major credit goes to senior forward Bree Hall, who shut down All-American forward Madison Booker. She came close to a season low with seven points (half her average of 14.8 points per game) on 3 of 19 field goals (48% season average). Hall, the Gamecocks’ constant presence, said she spent the night before watching YouTube videos of Booker to study the star’s tendencies. Collectively, they had one of their best games when it came to defensive communication, she said.
South Carolina (16-1, 5-0) entered the top five differently than expected after Ashlyn Watkins suffered a season-ending ACL tear a week prior. In between, the Gamecocks took care of Texas A&M with ease, but the Longhorns posed bigger problems. Senior forward Sania Feagin, who averages 17 minutes per game on the stacked roster, played a season-high 31 minutes.
“She had a pretty good game from a statistical standpoint, but (it’s) all the other stuff, the intangibles,” head coach Dawn Staley said. “She always kept her feet above the big guys. She communicated there and led. When you have someone who sits as long as he sits and plays as well as he played, that’s it. “That’s what (we’ve been) trying to get from Feagin for three years now.”
Staley said the team had to understand each other from the start and will have to do it again after losing Watkins. The league schedule will tell them who they are, she said. It seems dominant, as always.
Two-auction Ivy is possible
Will it be back-to-back Ivy NCAA tournaments? Or could it even be a three-bid Ivy?
Princeton, Harvard and Columbia each earned Ivy League preseason votes to win the conference and are projected in or on the cusp of the NCAA field in Latest Bracketology from ESPN. The conference title race is already looking good. Sophomore point guard Ashley Chea drained a deep jumper to send Princeton past Harvard, 52-50, at home Saturday in their first of two regular-season meetings. They will meet again in Massachusetts on February 28.
Princeton (11-4, 2-0) is the Ivy heavyweight. The buzzer-beater was only the program’s second in 22 years; they haven’t often needed theater to go 93-9 in their home gym since 2009-10. The Tigers have held a share of the regular season title for six straight years. They were picked first in the preseason poll with 10 of 16 votes after losing three starters to graduation (defensive player of the year Ellie Mitchell and former player of the year Kaitlyn Chen , transferred to UConn). Madison St. Rose tore her ACL in November and is out for the year.
Harvard (12-2, 1-1) is the active darling of the midrange with a standout star, senior Harmoni Turner, who ranks in the top 20 in scoring and fourth in steals. The Crimson ranks in the top 40 in the NET rankings, tops in the Ivy with the group’s only Quad 1 win.
And Columbia (11-4, 2-0) just earned its first NCAA Tournament bid, marking the first time since 2016 that two Ivy League schools were selected for the tournament. The Lions tied Princeton for the regular season title. They will host Princeton on Monday, January 20 and travel to New Jersey on February 22. They will play Harvard on January 31 in Massachusetts and February 16 at home.
Game of the week
Utah (13-3, 4-1 Big 12) at TCU (17-1, 5-0), Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN+) — The Utes’ Big 12 season reaches another level with a road trip to Baylor (Tuesday) and TCU. The Horned Frogs’ only loss was against South Carolina.
Official AP Rankings
1.UCLA
2. South Carolina
3. Notre Dame
4.USC
5. LSU
6. UConn
7.Texas
8. Maryland
9. Ohio State
10. TCU
11. Kansas State
12.Kentucky
13. Oklahoma
14. North Carolina
15.Tennessee
16. Duke
17. Georgia Tech
18. Cal
19.Alabama
20. West Virginia
21. NC State
22. Michigan State
23. Utah
24. Minnesota
25. Oklahoma State
Yahoo Sports AP voting
1. Notre Dame
2.UCLA
3. South Carolina
4.USC
5. Maryland
6.Texas
7. UConn
8. LSU
9. Kansas State
10. Oklahoma
11. Ohio State
12. TCU
13.Kentucky
14.Tennessee
15. North Carolina
16. Duke
17. Georgia Tech
18.Alabama
19. Michigan State
20. West Virginia
21. California
22. Utah
23.Michigan
24. NC State
25. Oklahoma State
