November 15, 2021 

Women’s Basketball Daily Briefing — Nov. 15, 2021

A busy day in NCAAW, including some unexpected results

It’s Monday, I’m sorry. Welcome to The Next’s Daily Briefing, featuring the daily Watch List and the longest Yesterday’s Recap! Day 7 of college basketball is here, a classic Monday of just a few good games.

Continue reading with a subscription to The Next

Get unlimited access to women’s basketball coverage and help support our hardworking staff of writers, editors, and photographers by subscribing today.

Join today

(All times in Eastern)

Daily Briefing Watch List, Monday, Nov. 15*

Must-watch

RV South Dakota State @ #12 Iowa State, 7:30 p.m., ESPN+

Good games

RV South Dakota @ Drake, 7 p.m., ESPN+

RV DePaul @ #23 Texas A&M, 8 p.m., SEC Network+

Also watchable

Troy @ Mercer, 7 p.m., ESPN+

Sickos game

#21 South Florida @ #15 Tennessee, 6:30 p.m., SEC Network+

Pac-12 or Big 10 on national television

None

Daily Briefing: Sunday, Nov. 14 recap

#2 UConn: 95-80 win over Arkansas. The Razorbacks drew within six in the mid-second quarter, but Husky point guard Paige Bueckers scored 28 of her career-high 34 thereafter to pull away. Bueckers did that on 15-19 shooting (0-1 3pt.) with six rebounds, four assists, two seals, two blocks, no turnovers, and markedly improved defense, without ever hitting the bench; off-ball Christyn Williams scored 18 points on 6-12 from the field (6-11 FT); wing Evina Westbrook had 15 points (including 3-5 3pt.), eight rebounds, five assists, and two steals; Ohio State transfer big Dorka Juhasz made her UConn debut, scoring three points on 1-4 FG (0-2 3pt.) in 13 minutes; combo guard Azzi Fudd — the unanimous No. 1 freshman in the country — scored seven points in her collegiate debut on 3-7 shooting (1-4 3pt.) but struggled defensively; wing Caroline Ducharme — the consensus No. 10 freshman in the country — made her first entry into a box score with a turnover and a foul in four minutes. Razorback combo guard Amber Ramirez had 20 points on 8-17 shooting (3-6 3pt.), while Oregon State transfer wing Sasha Goforth made her debut for her hometown team, scoring 17 points (6-17 FG) with five rebounds. Arkansas had its third different starting five in three games this season, with three of their highly-touted freshmen — Jersey Wolfenbarger, Emrie Ellis, and Samara Spencer, the consensus Nos. 13, 23, and 84 recruits in the Class of 2021 — coming off the bench; Ashlyn Sage, the consensus No. 111, did not play after averaging 8.0 minutes across the Razorbacks’ first two games.

#3 Stanford, #25 Texas: The Longhorns beat the Cardinal 61-56. Stanford led by three with seven minutes left, before Texas scored 12 unanswered points. A truly ugly game, the teams combined to shoot 36.7% from the field, commit 38 fouls, and hit 58.5% from the line. The winning team registered just three assists! Point guard Rori Harmon — the consensus No. 10 freshman in the country — scored a game-high 21 points for the Longhorns on 8-16 shooting; Mississippi State transfer off-ball guard Aliyah Matharu scored 17 off the bench, all in the fourth quarter, and her 4-of-4 from three made her the only player in the game to hit at least half her threes; center Aaliyah Moore — the consensus No. 6 freshman — scored nine points on 4-8 FG with five rebounds and three turnovers; Kyndall Hunter and Latasha Lattimore — the consensus Nos. 20 and 25 freshmen — played a combined seven minutes.

The Cardinal’s only efficient scorer was wing Lexie Hull, who notched a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double on 7-12 shooting (2-5 3pt.) with two steals; big wing Haley Jones scored 15 points on 2-6 from the field (0-2 3pt., 11-13 FT), with five rebounds, five assists, and five turnovers; center Cameron Brink scored 7 points (2-3 FG) with five rebounds and three blocks, and most importantly once again avoided foul trouble; center Ashten Prechtel played the most minutes off Stanford’s bench, with six points on 2-7 three-point shooting.

#4 Maryland: 81-45 win over James Madison. Wing Chloe Bibby scored 19 points on 6-11 from the field (2-6 3pt.); big Angel Reese had a 12-point, 14-rebound double-double on 3-10 shooting (6-8 FT) plus four steals and three turnovers; point guard Ashely Owusu had 14 points and three steals before rolling her ankle; with Owusu leaving, freshman backup point guard Shyanne Sellers played 30 minutes and scored 11 points on 3-7 from three.

#5 N.C. State: 85-52 over Florida. Center Elissa Cunane had an 18-point, 12-rebound double-double on 7-10 shooting with three assists and two steals; off-ball guard Kai Crutchfield had 17 points on 5-7 FG (4-4 3pt.), five rebounds, and four steals. The Gators were led by point guard Kiara Smith’s 16 points on 6-13 shooting.

#8 Indiana, #13 Kentucky: The Hoosiers beat the Wildcats 88-67. Kentucky scored the first four points, and were down 12 by the start of the fourth quarter. Center Mackenzie Holmes’ career-high 29 points (11-15 FG) and seven rebounds led Indiana; combo guard Grace Berger added 19 points on 6-16 shooting (6-8 FT), nine rebounds, four assists, and three turnovers; wing Nicole Cardaño-Hillary had 12 points (3-5 3pt.), six rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and four turnovers. The Wildcats were led by Rhyne Howard’s 23 points (9-18 FG, 2-6 3pt.), nine rebounds, two steals, and three turnovers; freshman point guard Jada Walker had 16 points on 7-13 shooting and two steals off the bench.

#9 Iowa: 82-61 win over Northern Iowa. Point guard Caitlin Clark had a near-triple-double with 25 points (9-22 FG, 4-13 3pt.), 11 rebounds, and seven assists, as well as two steals against four turnovers; wing McKenna Warnock had 17 points on 5-10 shooting and six rebounds; center Monika Czinano had 16 points on 6-12 from the field, five rebounds, and four assists against three turnovers.

#10 Oregon: 84-35 win over Dixie State. Te-Hina Paopao made her season debut after a knee injury, but only played three of her “10-12” anticipated minutes; big Nyara Sabally and off-ball guard Taylor Bigby — the consensus No. 22 freshman in the country — were ruled out with injury but are expected to be back by the Battle 4 Atlantis next weekend; big Kylee Watson had a game- and career-high 16 points on a perfect 8-8 from the field, plus four rebounds, three assists, three steals, and no turnovers — that’s just the third time someone’s had a five-stat slash-line of 16/4/3/3/1 in the Her Hoop Stats era (since 2009) with 100% FG% on as many attempts; center Sedona Prince had 10 points on 4-12 shooting; wing Sydney Parrish had 12 points on 5-10 form the field (1-4 3pt.) and four steals; center Phillipina Kyei — a top international freshman by Blue Star — had a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double off the bench on 6-11 FG and no turnovers; New Mexico transfer point guard Ahlise Hurst played 34 minutes off the bench after Paopao’s injury, finishing with 17 points on 6-12 shooting (2-6 3pt.) and five assists and one turnover.

#16 Florida State: 79-42 win over Milwaukee. Wing Morgan Jones had 19 points on 9-12 from the field, three assists, and three blocks in minutes; point guard Bianca Jackson scored 10 points on 4-5 shooting, with six assists, and two steals; center River Baldwin and bench big Makayla Timpson — the consensus No. 53 freshman in the country — combined for 24 points on 12-18 shooting, 11 rebounds, four blocks, and five turnovers.

#17 Georgia Tech: 58-45 win over RV Belmont. The Bruins led 15-9 almost nine minutes into the game before being outscored by 19 the rest of the way. The Yellow Jackets were led by point guard Lotta-Maj Lahtinen’s 17 points on 6-13 shooting, seven rebounds, seven assists, and two steals against three turnovers after struggling in their first two games; big Lorela Cubaj had a double-double with 15 points (5-13 FG) and 14 rebounds, with four assists, two steals, and three blocks. Belmont point guard Destinee Wells had 18 points on 6-19 shooting (3-7 3pt.), five rebounds, three assists, and four turnovers.

#17 Ohio St.: 86-48 win over Norfolk State. Big Rebeka Mikulášiková matched her career-high with 19 points on 8-13 shooting (0-3 3pt.) and six rebounds; off-ball guard Jacy Sheldon scored 10 points while 0-1 from the field thanks to a 10-for-10 mark from the line.

#24 Virginia Tech: 81-52 win over George Mason. Starters center Elizabeth Kitley, combo guard Aisha Sheppard, and wings Cayla King and Emily Lytle combined for 67 points on 54% from the field and 57.1% from three; Kitley added ten rebounds, four assists, and four blocks; combo guard Georgia Amoore, the remaining starter, had nine assists and two steals against two turnovers; Lytle replaced wing Azana Baines in the starting lineup, and Baines scored six points (3-4 FG), with seven rebounds, off the bench. Wings Jordan Wakefield and Tamia Lawhorne combined for 30 points on 11-16 shooting (6-10 3pt.) for the Patriots, plus five rebounds and four steals.

RV Notre Dame: 82-56 win over Syracuse in the first ACC conference game of 2021-22. Maddy Westbeld led the Irish with 19 points on 8-13 from the field, six rebounds, and two steals against three turnovers; Notre Dame’s starting backcourt of point guard Olivia Miles and off-ball guard Dara Mabrey combined for 26 points on 9-15 shooting (4-7 3pt.), nine rebounds, 15 assists, and six steals against seven turnovers; combo forward Sam Brunelle scored 17 on 8-17 FG with five rebounds off the bench; wing Sonia Citron — the consensus No. 19 freshman — once again played starter-length minutes; Katlyn Gilbert, a starter in 2019-20 and feature in last year’s rotation, was trimmed out of the nine-player Irish rotation. Maryland transfer center Alaysia Styles led the Orange with 14 points on 6-10 shooting, six rebounds, three steals, and three turnovers.

RV FGCU, RV LSU: The Eagles beat the Tigers 88-74. Big wing Kierstan Bell had 32 points on 13-17 from the field (5-8 3pt.), with 10 rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and five turnovers; point guard Tishara Morehouse added 17 points on 7-17 shooting, five rebounds, six assists, and two turnovers; Clemson transfer off-ball guard Kendall Spray had 17 points on 6-7 FG (5-6 3pt.) and eight rebounds. The Tigers were led by point guard Khayla Pointer’s 23-point, 10-rebound double-double on 9-17 from the field, with five assists against six turnovers in 40 minutes; Texas A&M transfer combo guard Alexis Morris made her LSU debut, scoring 12 points on 5-11 shooting (0-3 3pt.), with five rebounds, four steals, two blocks, and four turnovers in 38 minutes.

RV Missouri State: 56-50 win over North Texas. The teams shot a combined 31.8% from the field and 12.1% from three. It was close the whole way, but Bear big Jasmine Franklin’s double-double on a game-high 13 points and 15 rebounds (4-10 FG) — plus three steals, two blocks, and three turnovers — pulled Missouri State ahead; the Bears’ starting lineup combined for 36 rebounds and 12 steals. The Mean Green were led by big Madi Townley’s 11 points on 5-10 shooting, eight rebounds, and three assists against five turnovers; North Texas’ starters combined for 20 turnovers.

RV Michigan St.: 89-65 win over Niagara. Off-ball guard Alyza Winston and point guard Nia Clouden combined for 15 of the Spartans’ 28 first-quarter points; the former finished with 17 points on 7-15 from the field (2-6 3pt.), six assists, two steals, and no turnovers; the latter had 12 points on 4-7 shooting, plus five rebounds and four assists; point guard DeeDee Hagemann — the consensus No. 30 freshman — and wing Tamara Farquhar combined for 22 points on 8-14 FG with eight rebounds off the bench, with Hagemann adding seven assists and three steals.

Duke: 87-45 over UNC-Wilmington. And it could’ve been by more, except the Blue Devils were playing their 12th woman by the mid-second quarter. off-ball guard Miela Goodchild had 18 points on 7-12 from the field and 4-8 from three, plus four rebounds and four assists without a turnover off the bench; off-ball guard Celeste Taylor had 16 points on 7-9 shooting, six rebounds, and three steals in only 20 minutes; reserve off-ball guard Lee Volker — the consensus No. 151 freshman in the country — had 11 points on 5-9 FG (0-2 3pt.), three assists, and two steals.

Mississippi State: 86-63 win over Alcorn State. The Bulldogs led by just one at the half, but used a 35-point third quarter to pull away. Combo guard JerKaila Jordan scored 26 points on 10-17 shooting (6-10 3pt.), with eight rebounds, three steals, and no turnovers; combo guard Anastasia Hayes had 20 points on 8-20 from the field (0-5 3pt., 4-7 FT) with three assists and three turnovers; point guard Myah Taylor had a bounce-back performance with 15 points on 6-9 FG (3-8 FT), nine rebounds, seven steals, and two turnovers. Rickea Jackson didn’t play after getting injured at the end of Mississippi State’s win over South Dakota State.

Northwestern: 72-46 win over UC-Santa Barbara. Held the Gauchos to four first-quarter points, and Wildcat point guard Veronica Burton finished with a game-high 20 points on 7-13 shooting (4-6 3pt.), seven assists, and five turnovers.

Wake Forest: 56-45 win over UNC-Greensboro. Despite being the only Demon Deacon worth paying defensive attention to, Jewel Spear keeps wrecking the opposition; the off-ball guard scored 24 points on 6-13 from the field (4-9 3pt., 8-10 FT) with four assists and just one turnover. Through three games, she is averaging 23.3 points and 1.7 steals on 57.5/42.3/76.5 (FG%/3P%/FT%) and 5.7 free-throw attempts. The non-Spear Deacons shot 1-10 from three and had eight assists against 12 turnovers.

Memphis: 89-58 win over SIU Edwardsville. Wright State transfer off-ball guard Emani Jefferson became the first player in the Her Hoop Stats era to score 20 points on just three shots, thanks to a 14-16 mark from the free-throw line. She added seven rebounds and three assists.

Kansas State: 76-44 win over Western Kentucky. Center Ayoka Lee had 33 points on 14-17 shooting with 13 rebounds and four steals.

Washington: 72-65 win over Northern Arizona. Marisa Davis-Jones — the consensus No. 105 freshman — made her collegiate debut, her first contribution to a box score a turnover in two minutes.

USC, Virginia: The Trojans beat the Cavaliers in the Sickos Game of the Day, in which the teams combined to shoot 32.0% from the field, 21.4% from three, and 58.1% from the line. Yikes! The Trojans were led by 16 points from big wing Rayah Marshall — the consensus No. 20 freshman — on 8-14 shooting, nine rebounds, and two steals against just one turnover; center Clarice Akunwafo — the consensus No. 33 freshman — had a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double on 3-7 FG with just one turnover. Marquette transfer big Camryn Taylor had six points on 3-13 from the field (0-2 3pt.) with five rebounds and three turnovers for Virginia.

Wisconsin: 61-49 loss to NJIT. Were outscored by 10 in the fourth quarter by the team picked to finish third-to-last in the America East conference. In an era of awful Badger losses, this has an argument for the worst of the past decade.

Cleveland State: 93-53 win over DII Quincy. Held the Hawks scoreless from 4:11 in the third quarter to 5:46 in the fourth. That’s eight minutes and 33 seconds without a Quincy point. Oof. Destiny Leo led the Vikings with 30 points on 10-14 FG (5-8 3pt.).

Daily Briefing: Blown leads edition

Clemson: 78-82 loss to Columbia. The Tigers peaked at a 93.9% win expectancy with a 14-point lead in the early third quarter, thanks to a 31-point second quarter, and remained in the 90%s in win expectancy with a nine-point lead in the early fourth quarter; the Lions went on a go-ahead 10-0 run across the mid-fourth-quarter. Clemson was led by Syracuse transfer point guard Kiara Lewis’ double-double with 20 points on 7-16 FG (6-7 FT) and 11 rebounds, plus three steals and five turnovers; point guard Delicia Washington added 17 points on 7-21 from the field, seven rebounds, and three assists; centers Latrese Saine and Eno Inyang — a top-150 freshman by Blue Star and ASGR — combined for 24 points on 5-7 from the field and 14-20 from the line off the bench, plus 18 rebounds. Wing Sienna Durr and off-ball guard Abbey Hsu led Columbia with a combined 27 points on 14-29 shooting (7-15 3pt.) and 10 rebounds against just one turnover; freshman Kitty Henderson scored 16 points on 6-13 from the field with seven rebounds, four assists, three steals, and three turnovers off the bench; Duke transfer off-ball guard Jaida Patrick shot 1-10 (0-4 3pt.) with three turnovers.

Fairleigh Dickinson: 68-59 loss to Loyola (MD). Had a 95.6% win expectancy with an eight-point lead with less than five minutes to go in regulation, proceeded to allow 10 unanswered points and needed a layup with four seconds left just to force overtime.

San José: 75-65 loss to Sacramento State. Had a 99.4% win expectancy with an 18-point lead near the end of the third quarter. Allowed a 25-6 run to permanently fall behind. Center Isnelle Natabou led the Hornets with a 20-points, 12-rebound double-double on 9-13 from the field.

*The Daily Briefing is written before the AP’s weekly rankings are released.

Written by Em Adler

Em Adler (she/her) covers the WNBA at large and college basketball for The Next, with a focus on player development and the game behind the game.

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.