The female college basketball season is underway, even though the Connecticut Huskies in third place in the ranking has not yet played due to the COVID-19 protocols.
South Carolina’s No. 1 Gamecocks have retained their place and continue a non-conference list designed to test them soon. The Pac-12 is ready to give you a hint on what should be another season of exciting parity, and does Charli Collier, from Texas, get a game of more than 40 points that exceeds even Kevin Durant’s grade?
Here are this weekend’s games among the top 25 teams. The complete schedule can be found here.
Thursday, December 3
No. 8 NC State (2-0) at No. 1 South Carolina (3-0), ESPN2 7:00 pm
TEAM RECEIPT: South Carolina coach Dawn Staley does not schedule cupcake programs in the non-conference part of the schedule. The Gamecocks have already played South Dakota, which won votes in the AP poll preseason, and No. 21 Gonzaga in consecutive wins of 10 points or less. They had six wins from that margin all last year.
NC State is 2-17 of all time against the country’s No. 1 team and it is the first time since 1980-81 that Wolfpack and Gamecocks have met, while both are ranked in the top 10.
KEY PLAYERS: Aliyah Boston, the current freshman of the year at the SEC, has not played by her standards for the past two games, Staley said through The State. She averages 11.0 points out of 0.500 shots with 8.3 rebounds per game and a total of two blocks. Destanni Henderson and Zia Cooke have an average of 17.7 points each.
NC State will feature Elissa Cunane, who has averaged 14.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in 21.0 minutes per game so far. They played in North Florida and NC Central and won by an average margin of 33 points.
Friday, December 4
No. 20 DePaul (1-1) at No. 5 Louisville (2-0), ESPN 6:30 pm
TEAM RECEIPT: DePaul opened his season with a 93-91 loss to number 12 Texas A&M and has the second highest scoring attack this season (109.5 points). The former Big East rivals will face off at the Jimmy V Classic at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut on Friday. DePaul leads the series, 17-15, and won the last meeting in the 2016 NCAA tournament. Blue Demons, seeded in sixth, defeated No. 3 Cardinals, 73-72, to reach Sweet 16.
KEY PLAYERS: Sonya Morris, Dee Bekelja, Lexi Held, Deja Church and Kendall Holmes, who came off the bench in both games, have a double-digit average for DePaul and combined pitches 54.8 percent.
That will drop sharply against Louisville, who is allowing an average of 55 points per game and keeping opponents with 30.6 percent of shots. Dana Evans averages 17.5 per game on 13 of 31 shots (41.9 percent)
No. 9 UCLA (1-0) at No. 7 Arizona (1-0), 9:00 pm
TEAM RECEIPT: If 2019-20 taught us anything, keep an eye on all Pac-12 games this weekend. UCLA and Arizona shared their two games last year, each winning on their court. The Bruins’ victory gave the Wildcats their first defeat, dropping to 13-1. Arizona had a tighter season opening, beating Northern Arizona 76-63.
KEY PLAYERS: UCLA’s Michaela Onyenwere has already started well, scoring 22 points and eight rebounds behind Charisma Osborne’s 31 points and Natalie Chou’s 16 points in the 98-49 victory over Cal State Fullerton.
Cate Reese doubled 21 points and 11 rebounds in Arizona’s win. Aari McDonald had 18 points, making 3 of 9 attempts from 3 points, with seven rebounds and eight assists.
OF IMPORTANCE: UCLA coach Cori Close is a No. 200 victory with the Bruins and would only become the third coach in the program’s history to do so. She has the highest winning percentage of the three. If Arizona wins, it will be the first time in the program’s history that the Wildcats have won a game in which both teams are in the top 10.
Sunday, December 6
No. 1 South Carolina (3-0) at No. 23 Iowa State (2-1), ESPNU 12h00
TEAM RECEIPT: Iowa began its season without coach Bill Fennelly, who was quarantined after contacting a person who tested positive for COVID-19. The loss of the Cyclones is to the state of South Dakota, 76-69, on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
KEY PLAYERS: The Gamecocks will beat Ashley Joens, who averages 31.3 points and 10.0 rebounds in the first three games. She averaged 21.1 and 10.7, respectively, last season. Joens is shooting 55.6 percent from the ground, including 41.2 percent in the 3-point range. She has four blocks and three thefts so far. Kristin Scott has an average of 12.0 points and 6.7 rebounds.
No. 13 Indiana (1-0) at No. 11 Kentucky (2-0), ESPNU 4:00 pm
TEAM RECEIPT: Indiana opened doubling in Eastern Kentucky, 100-51. The Hoosiers had a 26-point lead over second-year striker Mackenzie Holmes.
Kentucky won their first two games with at least 20 points each.
KEY PLAYERS: Rhyne Howard, a 1.80 meter junior playmaker who competed for the title of best player of the year, served a two-game suspension for “failing to maintain program standards” and was scheduled to return Thursday night. Her 23.4 points per game last year was the second in the country, but she was left out of the All-American postseason first team and is using that as extra motivation.
Chasity Patterson averaged 20.0 points from 52 percent of shots and Dre’una Edwards, a Utah transfer who won the 2019 Freshman Pac-12 award of the year, averaged 14.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in Howard’s absence.
No. 4 Baylor (2-0) at No. 16 Arkansas (3-1), ESPN2 6:00 pm
TEAM RECEIPT: Baylor beat South Florida 67-62 on Tuesday for the program’s 1,000th victory, despite hitting 28.9 percent in the first half. Bears are the 15th female program to reach this mark.
Arkansas played four games over five nights last week and finally faltered in the final, a 115-98 loss to No. 14 Maryland.
KEY PLAYERS: Senior guard and defender of the year in 2020, Didi Richards, made his triumphant return five weeks after a frightening spinal cord injury to score four points with seven assists.
Two Bears have doubles averages: NaLyssa Smith (15.5 points, 12.5 rebounds) and Rainha Egbo (25.0, 11.0).
Taylah Thomas controlled the boards (8.5 rpg), while the other four players led each of the Razorbacks in a different game. Chelsea Dungee, Makayla Daniels, Destiny Slocum and Amber Ramirez average two digits in the score.
No. 12 Texas A&M (3-0) at No. 25 Texas (3-0), ESPN 8:30 pm
TEAM RECEIPT: Texas A&M played against Lamar (0-4) twice, winning 16 and 17, respectively, and had a two-point victory over DePaul. They awarded an average of 71.7 points to opponents in the three games
The Aggies are 13-9 all-time against Texas, although they are in a four-game losing streak and last in 2014.
KEY PLAYERS: N’dea Jones (19.3 ppg, 10.7 rpg) and Ciera Johnson (13.3 ppg, 11.0 rpg) lead Texas A&M.
Charli Collier, a 1.80 meter junior pivot, leads the country in scoring thanks in large part to her 44 points in 84.2 percent of pitches during a 106-69 victory over North Texas. It is the fourth highest number of points in the history of Texas women and seven points more than Kevin Durant’s highest scoring game in Texas. He is her favorite player and she uses his number 35.
She averages 30.3 points and 12.0 rebounds per game.
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