This is the first in a series of daily NCAAW reports summarizing the basketball activity from the night before. My editor asked me to put a name to it, so I suggested the French term for nothing but net. Hence, it will be RIEN QUE DE FILET! So here goes today’s report.
First, UPSET ALERT! In a close back-and-forth game, the Sooners of Oklahoma tamed the KSU Wildcats and won 66-63. I have a soft spot for OU, because their coach, Jennie Baranczyk, was the former coach at Drake (my alma mater), where she did a hell of a great job. OU now sits 1/2 game behind KSU in the Big 12 standings. Now, the rest. No. 10 Indiana took down struggling Maryland 87-73. Mackenzie Holmes and Sara Scalia led the charge with 23 and 22 respectively.
Jakia Brown-Turner put in 22 for Maryland. Neither team has a prolific bench, an issue that needs to be addressed for next season. Is Brenda Freese in danger of being replaced? Oh hell no, and with her track record, she’ll find a way back as a legit contender in the Big Ten. No. 3 Iowa handily defeated Northwestern, 110-74, as Caitlin Clark barrels her way toward breaking Kelsey Plum‘s scoring record, which I think she’ll accomplish well before the end of regular conference play.
I’m not a big stats guy, but I found these numbers interesting – Northwestern’s bench outscored their starters 40-34, and Iowa’s starters outscored their bench 83-27, with 63 of those points coming from Clark, Martin, and Marshall. When those three are gone, where does that leave Iowa? And is Hannah Stuelke their leader for the future? That’s a good question and one which I am sure Lisa Bluder will address.
Ranked Creighton and UConn win in NCAAW action
Also, No. 22 Creighton managed to hold off Marquette 76-71. Marquette took a 40-37 lead into halftime, but Creighton managed to eke out the win, which brings us to UConn vs Villanova. This was a game of halves. UConn looked somewhat distracted and out of synch during the first half, although by the end of the 2nd quarter, you could see the wheels starting to turn. Villanova simply played a more focused first half, although Villanova star Lucy Olsen had two fouls midway through the first quarter and had to sit.
With a 1-point lead going into the second half, UConn turned up the defense and outscored Villanova 44-24 in the second half. Very good games from Nika Mühl, Aaliyah Edwards, Paige Bueckers, and KK Arnold. Freshman Ashlynn Shade is in a bit of a scoring slump, but she continues to play hard and will get it back. Lucy Olsen scored 15 for Villanova.
After losing to Notre Dame and looking ahead to their match-up with South Carolina, it is going to be exciting to see what UConn can do versus the #1 ranked team. If anything, South Carolina’s near win over LSU exposed some of their weaknesses, so hopefully, Geno and the crew will find a way to take advantage of that. Defending Kamilla Cardoso inside will also have to be a priority, one probably accomplished by the committee.
My guess is that Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks will not simply see this game as an easy win. I’m predicting a very exciting game.
‘And that, my friends, as they say, is that.’ — Martin Ruben.
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