Daily Briefing — Jan. 29, 2022: Send Reeve an Angel

I would also be remiss if I did not note that there were not one but two triple-doubles on my day off a couple nights ago. Purdue point guard Jeanae Terry notched her second of the season with 10/11/12/3 (pts/reb/ast/stl) on 5-for-10 shooting without a turnover, while Arkansas State wing Morgan Wallace had the Red Wolves’ first in 16 years on 12/11/10/3 on 3-for-8 shooting from the field (1-4 3pt.) and four turnovers.

W Roundup

Free agency

• Myisha Hines-Allen: Is finalizing a long-term contract with the Washington Mystics, per Rachel Galligan. This would lock in what, health allowing, should be a dominant starting lineup of Natasha Cloud/Ariel Atkins/Alysha Clark/Hines-Allen/Elena Delle Donne, while financially likely restricting Washington to filling out the rest of its roster with veteran minimums and the first overall draft pick. Our median contract prediction for Hines-Allen was a three-year deal for $155,000 per year.
• Briann January: Will sign with the Seattle Storm, as first announced by Khristina Williams of Girls Talk Sports TV and confirmed by our Howard Megdal. Our Seattle reporter, ~me~, brings you nine thoughts on what the off-ball guard’s addition means for the Storm’s 2022 play and the rest of their free-agency strategy. Our median contract prediction was two years for $125,000 per year.
• Angel McCoughtry: Will sign with the Minnesota Lynx, as first announced by Williams and confirmed by Yahoo! Sports’ Chris Hayes and our Howard Megdal. The wing is a no-doubt future Hall of Famer and was an absolute force in the Wubble, but she has missed two of the past three seasons with knee injuries as she heads into her age-35 season. Should she sign for much more than the veteran minimum, this could portend the departure of point guard Layshia Clarendon or suspension of pregnant combo forward Napheesa Collier; our median prediction was a one-year, $130,000 deal.
• Emma Meesseman: Is being courted to the Chicago Sky by new assistant coach and former Belgian national team player Ann Wauters.
• Mercedes Russell: Prefers to remain in Seattle, a source familiar with the center’s thinking tells The Next.
• Odyssey Sims: Has had talks with the Lynx, Sky and Connecticut Sun, per Galligan.
• A’ja Wilson: Is close to re-signing with the Las Vegas Aces, per Williams. Our median prediction was a two-year deal at the lower max, but if you ask me, anything other than a one-year max, followed by a long-term supermax next year, would be shocking.

Watch List, Saturday, Jan. 29

(All times in Eastern)

Must-watch

#9 Texas @ #18 Oklahoma, 3 p.m., Bally Sports Oklahoma

Good games

Cal Baptist @ SFA, 3 p.m., ESPN+

Also watchable

#13 Iowa State @ Texas Tech, 1:30 p.m., ESPN+

Sickos games

UNC-Asheville @ Winthrop, 2 p.m., ESPN+

George Washington @ George Mason, 3 p.m., ESPN+

Friday, Jan. 28 recap

#2 Stanford: 78-50 win over Arizona State. Led 60-29 after three quarters. Shot 51.7% while holding the Sun Devils to 32.7% overall and 17.6% from three; the teams combined for 39 fouls. Point wing Haley Jones led with a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double in 27 minutes on 4-for-9 shooting (0-1 3pt., 4-6 FT) with three assists; center Cameron Brink had 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting from the field (0-1 3pt.), seven rebounds and no turnovers against three fouls in 11 minutes; bench centers Fran Belibi and Kiki Iriafen each tallied 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting without a turnover — Belibi in 11 minutes, Iriafen in 10; wing Lexie Hull went 1-for-7 from the field and 0-for-6 from three with two turnovers and three fouls in 23 minutes; starting off-ball guard Hannah Jump did not appear to be in the building.

TDB Cameron Brink Foul Watch: Three fouls in 11 minutes today; 5.1 fouls per 40 minutes (12th percentile, per Her Hoop Stats), 6.2% foul percentage (12th percentile) for the season.

#23 Iowa: 72-67 overtime win over Northwestern. Were +17 in rebounding; committed 25 turnovers. A matchup of the Big Ten’s best offensive player (Iowa’s Caitlin Clark) and best defensive player (Northwestern’s Veronica Burton) ended in, well — here’s what Clark did to Burton for the go-ahead:

Clark finished with a points/rebounds/turnovers triple-double of 28 points (8-22 FG, 3-8 3pt., 9-9 FT), 11 rebounds and 11 turnovers with five assists while playing the whole game; the point guard has shot 44.8% from three across her last four games after starting the season at 22.7% and has already accomplished the 23rd-greatest free-throw shooting season of the HHS era; center Monika Czinano notched a 24-point, 16-rebound double-double on 9-for-15 shooting from the field (6-6 FT) with seven offensive boards and two steals; no other Hawkeye had more than six points. The Wildcats were led by Burton’s 19 points on 8-for-14 shooting (2-5 3pt.), six rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two blocks against three turnovers and four unintentional fouls in 45 minutes; center Courtney Shaw had three points on 1-for-3 FG, 12 rebounds (seven offensive), four assists, five steals and two blocks against four fouls — the first game with at least that many rebounds/assists/steals/blocks/fouls on as few points in the HHS era.

RV* DePaul: 94-88 win over St. John’s. Were tied as late as 3:12 in the fourth. Only one starter on each team failed to reach double digits; five had at least 20. The teams shot a combined 51.7% while each going 7-for-19 from three; the Blue Demons notched 14 steals, part of 20 forced turnovers. Point guard Lexi Held led with 24 points on 9-for-15 shooting from the field and 3-for-7 from three, eight assists and five steals against four turnovers; big Aneesah Morrow recorded her 14th straight double-double with 22 points on 9-for-21 FG (4-9 FT) and 18 rebounds (seven offensive), plus three steals against four turnovers — she’s recorded a double-double in 17 of her last 19 games, having played 22 career games; off-ball guard Sonya Morris had 22 points on 11-for-17 shooting (0-2 3pt.), nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals against three turnovers.

Princeton: 61-49 win over Yale to remain undefeated and in first place in the Ivy League.

Mississippi State: Center Jessika Carter has officially returned to the team. The senior will play next year.

Minnesota: Junior point guard Jasmine Powell entered the transfer portal. She was a second-team All-Big Ten selection last season, when she averaged 14.5 points in 31.9 minutes on 36.9/35.2/74.7 shooting (FG%/3P%/FT%) with 4.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists — good for sixth in Gopher history — and 4.0 turnovers for a 94th-percentile assist-to-turnover ratio on 26.9% usage.

Blown leads

USC: 63-61 overtime loss to Oregon State. Had a 98.0% win expectancy with a seven-point lead and possession with two and a half minutes remaining, then didn’t score again in regulation. Combo forward Rayah Marshall had a team-high 17 points on 7-for-11 FG and 12 rebounds for a double-double, plus five blocks against three turnovers. Beavers point guard Talia von Oelhoffen scored a game-high 31 points on 10-for-21 shooting from the field and 5-for-10 from three (6-6 FT) with seven rebounds and four assists against three turnovers — career highs in points, threes and rebounds.

Here’s how that Oregon State comeback ended:

Washington: 60-56 overtime loss to Wazzu. Led the Apple Cup by nine with less than five minutes to go for a 96.3% win expectancy, then fell victim to an overtime-forcing 12-3 Cougar run.

Cancellations

• #8 Arizona @ Cal
• #19 Oregon vs. RV UCLA — non-COVID injuries have left UCLA unable to legally field a team, resulting in a Bruin forfeit

*Receiving Votes