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NCAAW Breakdown: Fighting Irish Take A Top-10 Showdown
St. John's Has First Poll Appearance Since 2015
An action-packed Sunday of women’s basketball action offered a glimpse of what’s in store. Notre Dame, Iowa St. and Arizona all defeated ranked teams.
There will be three pairings of ranked teams Tuesday. No. 16 Oregon meets undefeated and 17th-ranked Arkansas at the San Diego Invitational, No. 19 Michigan squares off against No. 6 North Carolina in the Jumpman Invitational and No. 21 Creighton travels to No. 2 Stanford.
The top five teams remained the same in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, South Carolina again receiving every (28) first-place vote. Stanford, Ohio St., Indiana and Notre Dame round out the top five in the poll. Virginia Tech fell two spots to No. 8, while conference rivals North Carolina and North Carolina St. each climbed one spot.
Looking at the Las Vegas odds, South Carolina (+135) is favored in odds to win the national title. Stanford was +300, now +450, while the UConn odds remained at +650.
Let’s check the latest NCAAW picks, stats, injury reports, and NCAAW predictions. We’ve plenty of NCAAW expert picks for you to consider.
Also check on these WNCAAB betting lines.
It Was Super Sunday
It will be pretty hard to top last Sunday’s women’s basketball schedule.
Although Tennessee Tech is unranked, any Lady Vols-Stanford women’s game is worthy of mention, and the teams did not disappoint. Cameron Brink and Haley Jones each had double-doubles in Stanford’s 77-70 win. Tennessee’s Jordan Horston had 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Notre Dame emerged victorious in a top-10 showdown at Virginia Tech. Olivia Miles led the way in the Fighting Irish’s 63-52 win (16 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists). Va. Tech’s Georgia Amoore had 20 points, while Elizabeth Kitley added 16 points and 20 rebounds.
Miles stuffs the stat sheet to fuel No. 5 Notre Dame’s 63-52 road win over No. 6 Virginia Tech ☘️@ndwbb | #ACCWBB pic.twitter.com/ydjmKbmZD1
— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) December 19, 2022
Three ranked teams were playing in the Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase.
Emily Ryan flirted with a triple-double, then finished with 16 points, nine rebounds, and 10 assists in Iowa St.’s 74-62 win over Villanova. The Wildcats’ Maddy Siegrist had 32 points abd and a dozen rebounds.
Aaliyah Edwards and Lou Lopez Senechal had a combined 49 points as UConn held off a hard-charging Florida St. team, 85-78. Starters Nika Muhl and Dorka Juhasz returned to the Huskies,
The Seminoles’ Ta’Niya Latson, the highest-scoring frosh in the country, had 24 points in 26 minutes
Shaina Pellington had 18 points and eight rebounds as Arizona cruised past Baylor, 75-54.
Welcome to Hollywood
It didn’t have the offensive fireworks some might have anticipated, but UCLA Southern California did not disappoint.
Host USC had a chance to force overtime late in the fourth quarter before Gina Conti clinched UCLA’s 59-56 win with a late steal.
Charisma Osborne recorded her third double-double of the season (14 points, 13 rebounds), while Kadi Sissoko led the Trojans with 20 points.
UCLA comes in at +20000 in the odds to win the national title, according to the college basketball betting lines. USC is well back at +50000.
They’re Still the One
There will be some tough tests to come with top-ranked and defending national champion South Carolina. The recent slate of games has been pretty underwhelming, though.
The Gamecocks were pushed a little bit by South Dakota St., but the other games (Memphis, Liberty, and Charleston Southern) were over shortly after they began.
South Carolina does own three wins against ranked teams this season. More to come.
Freshman Chloe Kitts had 10 points, seven rebounds and two assists against Charleston Southern. It was her collegiate debut, giving South Carolina another offensive option to go along with leading scorer Zia Cooke and reigning national player of the year Aliyah Boston. According to the women’s basketball betting odds, Boston is a front-runner to repeat.
Looking at the Unbeatens
Seeing South Carolina, Louisiana St.. Indiana and Ohio St. among the nine undefeated Division I women’s basketball teams isn’t surprising.
It’s unlikely too many people had St. John’s as the last undefeated team in the Big East, or that Virginia and Kansas would currently have the best records in the ACC and Big 12, respectively.
Virginia played just five games a season ago, then lost all. UConn transfer Mir McLean (13.3 points/game, 10.1 rebounds/game), and Notre Dame transfer Samantha Brunelle (11.8 points, 4.7 rebounds) have teamed with Camryn Taylor to lead the 12-0 Cavaliers.
No. 20 Kansas is coming off a 7-18 campaign. It was all of eight games this season before the Jayhawks topped that total. The 6-foot-6 Taiyanna Jackson leads 10-0 Kansas (15.6 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 2.8 blocked shots per game).
St. John’s finished 8-15 (4-12 in the Big East) last season. Pittsburgh transfers Jayla Everett (16.1 points per game) and Georgetown transfer Jillian Archer (8.9 points, 7.6 rebounds) join fifth-year senior Kadaja Bailey to lead the way for the 11-0 Red Storm. St. John’s comes in at No. 25 in the AP poll, the first time the school has been in the top 25 since 2015.
Team of the Week
Arizona Wildcats
While the game with Baylor wasn’t a true road game, playing Baylor in Dallas is not easy.
So, after a competitive first quarter, the Wildcats outscored Baylor by 28 points en route to the 75-54, going-away victory.
Jade Loville had her fourth straight double-digit scoring game, while Esmery Martinez and Texas native Cate Reese had a combined 21 points and 28 rebounds. The Wildcats advanced two spots (to No. 18) in the latest AP poll.
Player of the Week
Angel Reese, Louisiana St.
Reese and the No. 10 Tigers enjoyed their trip to Hawaii and the Maui Classic, winning two games by a total of 71 points.
The former Maryland star had 55 points and 32 rebounds in wins over Montana St. and Oregon St. She shot 59% (field) and 83% (foul line) as LSU improved to 12-0.
She has 11 consecutive double-doubles, 24.6 points, and 14.6 rebounds in her first season at Baton Rouge. She has helped LSU move into the top 10 in the latest rankings.
Game of the Week
Oregon Ducks vs Arkansas Razorbacks
Tuesday, Dec. 20th, 4 p.m. ET
Arkansas will put its undefeated (13-0) record on the line when the No. 17 Razorbacks square off with Oregon at the San Diego Invitational.
Sophomore guard Samara Spencer is coming off a 26-point effort in a win over then-No. 16 Creighton. That was the first ranked opponent Arkansas played this season. UConn transfer Saylor Poffenbarger recorded her third double-double in the last four.
Oregon freshman Grace VanSlooten had 26 points and 10 rebounds in her last out.
