It was a victory that changed the levels of women’s college basketball. You could feel it. The packed house of 18,000 loud fans knew it. And the million more watching on TV could feel it.
Most fans will stay home this season, but the South Carolina-UConn series is back in action on Monday and is the game to watch this week.
Number 2 Gamecocks won their first victory in school history against a UConn squad that was still stellar, but not up to its robust standards. Now Paige Bueckers is in town and her young cast number 3 has more experience. There is no doubt that it will be one of the games of the year.
The moment they meet, their ratings can go up. NC State No. 4 defeated Louisville No. 1 last Monday night, creating a mountain of “but who’s the best?” questions for AP voters to find out.
Here is the complete weekend schedule, who to watch and how to watch.
South Dakota (10-3, 6-0) at No. 23 South Dakota State (13-2, 6-0)
Friday, 6pm ESPN3 and Saturday, 6pm ESPN3
CATCH UP: South Dakota and the state of South Dakota are internal rivals and opponents of the conference. They are the last remaining undefeated teams in the Summit League conference standings.
With so much uncertainty surrounding the conference’s post-season championships and the NCAA tournament selection process, it could take a year for both of them to enter the field. The selection committee has the difficult task of comparing teams in a season when the vast majority of games were in conference and there are few common opponents beyond the lines. There is also the difficulty of evaluating teams that have been forced into long programming lulls because of the postponements of COVID-19.
But back to the Summit League. The state of South Dakota opened its season with a turnaround over the state of Iowa and won three victories against ranked opponents this season. They are on a run of 23 consecutive league wins, the longest in Summit history. But it was South Dakota that controlled the series last year and won the AP ranking.
Both teams were off last week because of COVID-19 problems on their opponents’ programs.
LOOKING BACK: South Dakota won both regular season competitions last year as the AP-rated Summit League team. The Coyotes won 83-48 in mid-January and 77-67 a month later. South Dakota also won the 63-58 Summit League championship.
The Jackrabbits lead the series of all time, 59-33.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Myah Selland. She leads the state of South Dakota with 18.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. Junior redshirt striker is shooting 50.8 percent and cracked 1,000 career points last month. Selland is making his way to some WNBA draft boards in the third round.
For South Dakota, the senior center is Hannah Sjerven and Chloe Lamb. Sjerven is shooting 57.14 percent, ranking 17th in the country, and had 16 and 15 point outs against the Jackrabbits last season. In the single-digit game, Lamb scored 22 points. This season, they each have an average of 17 points per game, with Sjerven adding an average of 9.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks.
No. 16 Arkansas (9-1, 3-5) at No. 7 Texas A&M (16-1, 7-1)
Sunday, 3 pm SEC Network
CATCH UP: It says a lot about the SEC (and this odd season in general) that Arkansas is under 0.500 in conference games, but ranked as one of the best in the country. The Razorbacks showed this last week with an impressive victory over Connecticut.
These teams already met on January 10. Jordan Nixon hit a floater with 0.4 seconds on the clock to give the Aggies a 74-73 win.
Texas A&M goes to victory in 7th against qualified opponents this season. They missed none. Arkansas’s defeats were all against opponents ranked then or today: Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina and Georgia.
This game was postponed a week from February 14th. He replaced the scheduled competition between Texas A&M and Tennessee.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Chelsea Dungee, obviously. She scored 21 out of 6 out of 15 shots at the first meeting. She was 5 out of 9 in the 3-point range. The average of 22.2 points per game for the senior redshirt is among the top 15. Arkansas hit 14 out of 31 attempts at 3 points in the first meeting.
Aaliyah Wilson led all scorers with 27 points last time and N’dea Jones had 12 points and 14 double-double rebounds. It averages 13.7 and 10.8, respectively. Its 183 total blocks are ranked fifth in the country.
No. 2 South Carolina (14-1, 9-0 SEC) at No. 3 UConn (12-1, 10-0 Big East)
Monday, 19h FS1
CATCH UP: It’s time for the rematch. South Carolina had its first victory, 70-52, in the school’s history against Connecticut a year ago. The Gamecocks lost all eight competitions before hosting at home last year, but kept the Huskies within two points in the first quarter to win.
This confrontation will be closer this time. South Carolina is doing better than ever, with sophomore student Aliyah Boston channeling deeper power and guard company Zia Cooke leading production with 16.1 points per game.
UConn has the addition of freshman Paige Bueckers, who improved his career with 32 points on Wednesday night. Olivia Nelson-Ododa also showed an improved low game.
They are two of the top ten offensive attacks in the country, averaging more than 82 points per game.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Not to get away from it, but – everyone. These two teams have future WNBA stars, be it talent in the first round or even an unspoken inspiration story.
Bueckers showed a new level, if that is possible, last week. Boston is one of the most exciting players to watch at the moment. There is a reason this is a prime time show on Monday night.
No. 9 Arizona (11-2, 9-2) at No. 12 Oregon (11-3, 9-3)
Monday, 19h ESPN2
CATCH UP: Who will also receive love on Monday night is Pac-12, with a leading role on ESPN networks. Don’t look at Stanford now, but the competition for the Pac-12 title is over.
The Wildcats are scheduled to return to court on Friday for the first time since January 22 because of a break in COVID-19. His two losses are to Stanford and Washington State, with disputes against UCLA, USC and Colorado.
Oregon was coming out of a three-game losing streak when it also paused. They are scheduled to play for the first time since January 24, when the Ducks face UC Davis on Saturday.
Arizona won the first meeting, 57-41, on January 14 at home.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Aari McDonald from Arizona, a top talent who could have entered the WNBA draft last May. She averages 18.8 points per game and had 16 in the first encounter, along with four steals. She is the guard that the Wildcats go through.
The Patos had an equal score production on an average of three stars: Nyara Sabally (11.9 PPG, 0.550 FG%, 8.0 RPG), Te-Hina Paopao (11.1 PPG, 4.6 APG) and Erin Boley ( 11.1 PPG, 0.410 3P%, 5.0 RPG). Taylor Mikesell and Sedona Prince average 9.2 PPG each.
Sabally had a team record of 15 points against Arizona in the first game and everyone but two players scored just five points or less. They passed the Wildcats, 41-31, but were hurt by 26 points in Arizona in 23 turns.
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