Women's NCAA

[carlo]

The undefeated teams are now down to three, as Kentucky was upset by Auburn on Sunday and Missouri lost to Tennessee yesterday.
After beating USC and Oregon, UCLA clearly won also over Oregon State 71-51, on a brilliant perfromance from Jordin Canada, 24 pts and 5 asts.

Former Canadian junior NT star Shay Colley left South Carolina to stay closer to home (Ontario). Just wondering if she did know how many schools were closer when she signed with Gamecocks!

[carlo]

Junior Morgan Tuck helped UConn over South Florida, after a slow start, with 22 pts and 12 reb. She's currently second in Huskies scoring behind Breanna Sewart. UConn, South Carolina and Texas are the only undefeated teams.

Sophomores Shakayla Thomas (South Florida) and Kelsey Mitchell (Ohio State) went over 30 pts, as Thomas also added 14 reb and Mitchell 6 assts. Thomas was a member of US 2015 U19 WC team who just played in the prelim round (always scoring in double digits) and was then kicked off the team (with no official explanation).

Among newcomers, Kristine Anigwe continued her double-double streak despite California loss to Utah. Anigwe, also a member of U19 WC team, is joined by another double-double freshman specialist, Cornhusker Jessica Shepard.

[carlo]

UConn and South Carolina are the only undefeated teams, after Texas fell to brilliant Baylor, led by a fine performance of Alexis Jones (29 pts, 7 reb and 3 assts). Gamecocks escaped an upset from Texas A&M, winning by just one, again led by A'ja Wilson (26 pts).

Shorthanded North Carolina is now with just 6 scholarship players, after sr fw Xylina McDaniel will be out for the remainder of the season with a serious knee injury.

[carlo]

Sr guard Kelsey Minato is Army West Point leader and top scorer with 23.4ppg (8th nationally) and might lead Army to NCAA tournament. Minato is expected to break Patriot League scoring record as well and is Div.I three-point top shooter. She led yesterday Army to the victory over Navy at the Madison Square Garden scoring 22, her 98th straight game in double figures.

[carlo]

Freshmen again in the spotlight.
Pf Jessica Shepard added another huge game for Nebraska win at Michigan, 93-81, scoring 35 pts and grabbing a career-high 20 reb. She's the first Husker to record a +30/20 double-double.
Sf Kitija Laksa, from Riga (Latvia) led South Florida to an easy win over UCF, scoring 29 pts (and hitting 7 threes). She already scored 38 pts (and 8 threes) on Jan 7. Laksa has already played with Latvia NT.
Fw Elisa Penna from Italy led Wake Forest with 22 pts, scoring a perfect 12/12 FT. Penna has got a brilliant international career for Italian NT at junior level.

[carlo]

Tennessee lost for the first time ever to Mississippi State (65-63 OT), that is after the series began back in 1986. Lady Vols were playing with Diamond De Shields not 100% healthy (she just hit one FG), and could drop soon from AP Top-25 for the first time since 1985.

[carlo]

Junior guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough scored a career-high 41 pts to lead Maryland over Purdue, 87-67. SWK had an amazing 16/17 FG2 (and 17/21 FG overall), while Terps starting five shot 70.8% from the field. Maryland is now 20-2 and steadily ranks within the Top-5.

[carlo]

Some of USA teams members that played internationally last summer keep shining. Maryland's Shatori Walker-Kimbrough (US Pan Am team) faced Michigan State's Aerial Powers (US WUG team and MVP), and both scored 30+ pts. Powers had the edge with 31 but SWK shot better (3-3 threes and 9/9 FT) and led Maryland to victory.

Another Pan Am team silver medalist Kelsey Plum (who wasn't 100% healthy last summer) yesterday scored 30 for Washington and is currently 2nd in national scoring ranks with 27.1ppg.

Sophie Brunner (Pan Am team) and Katie Hempen (WUG team) are among the leaders of surprising Arizona State, which is 10-1 in PAC-12 conference.

[carlo]

Senior guard Rachel Banham tied NCAA single game record with 60 pts after a 2OT win of Minnesota over Northwestern, 112-106. The scoring record matched yesterday had been set in 1987 by Cindy Brown of Long Beach State. Banham hit 8 threes, on 15 attempts.

Soph F/C Chatrice White, who won gold at the 2015 U19 WC, set a career record of 35 pts (and 11 pts, her 15th double-double in the season) but wasn't enough for Illinois, who lost to Michigan 96-83.

Sr guard Brittney Martin led Oklahoma State over Texas Tech, 70-57, with 35 pts and 15 reb, her 8th straight double-double. She's of course her team's scoring leader with 21.6ppg.

[carlo]

Breanna Stewart, Morgan Tuck and Moriah Jefferson combined for 53 points in the big match with South Carolina, won by UConn 66-54.
All three are seniors, though Tuck has still one year of basketball eligibility, but it's still unclear if she returns next season.
Besides another double-double, Stewart finished with 5 blocks.
For South Carolina, Fw Sarah Imovbioh (who could play for Nigeria NT) had a perfect 6/6 FG shooting and 1/1 FT.

Ohio State upset Maryland in a high scoring game, behind 33 pts from super-soph Kelsey Mitchell.

[carlo]

Junior fw Taya Reimer, who just played few games this season before she withdrew for personal reasons, could transfer from Notre Dame after graduation next summer.
This would add another case to a transfer-loaded 2013-class.

[carlo]

In Naismith Trophy Midseason list, two entries are freshmen Kristine Anigwe (California) and Jessica Shepard (Nebraska).

http://naismithtrophy.com/press-release/naismith-trophy-womens-college-player-midseason-team/

[carlo]

Scorers in the spotlights yesterday. Rachel Banham, who's climbing to the top of national scoring ranks, had 52 points (9/13 FG3) in Minnesota losing effort to Michigan State, 114-106. Winners were led by Aerial Powers 40 pts and 8 asts.

Ameryst Alston and Kelsey Mitchell led Ohio State over Illinois 117-74 with 39 and 35 pts. Buckeyes went up to #5 in the national ranking.

Kristine Anigwe and Stephanie Watts finished with 30 pts but California and Tennessee lost vs Colorado and LSU.

[carlo]

It's an endless fall for Tennessee. After getting off Top-25 ranks, Lady Vols lost yesterday vs Alabama (which is 4-11 in conference games). Talented Diamond DeShields was emblematic of the underperforming Lady Vols, zero points in 13' (0/7 FG attempts) and 4 PFs. But it looks like problem first lies in coaching and team's management.

[carlo]

Senior PF Jillian Alleyne of Oregon suffered a torn ACL in practice. This is very unfortunate, as Alleyne would have been a sure 1st round WNBA pick this year. A double-double specialist (she's second in NCAA history with 92) she had never missed a single game, 120 played in her college career.