Upcoming UConn opponents on rise
With so many blockbuster nonconference games canceled amid the pandemic, this women’s college basketball season hasn’t featured the same level of excitement and intrigue as normal years.
A bit of that did return this weekend, though, as teams battled it out in some thrilling conference matchups that had meaningful implications for this week’s rankings. Here’s more on which teams stood out, and how upcoming UConn opponents have fared recently:
Tennessee rising
If all goes to plan, the Huskies will travel to Knoxville next week for their first real nonconference test of the season against Tennessee.
The Lady Vols came away with a huge win Thursday over then-No. 13 Arkansas, 88-73, to open SEC play. Rennia Davis and Rae Burrell dropped 26 points each, while the team shot 53.6 percent and crushed Arkansas in the paint, 52-20. The game marked Tennessee’s second win over a ranked opponent this season following its 66-58 victory over then-No. 15 Indiana last month.
After escaping with a 64-63 win over LSU on Sunday, Tennessee debuted in the AP rankings for the first time this season at No. 23. They have two conferences games against Georgia and Alabama on the schedule before hosting the Huskies Jan. 21.
South Carolina rallies late
The No. 5 Gamecocks have had a roller coaster of a last week or so.
First, the program paused basketball activities last Wednesday after someone tested positive for COVID-19. Additional testing revealed that that initial test was a false positive, and so the team was able to return to the court Saturday — the day before they were to play then-No. 10 Kentucky on the road.
The game remained on the schedule, and South Carolina did as much virtual scouting as they could before practicing Saturday, the one day of in-person prep they had before such a huge matchup.
Some of that rust showed early: With star center Aliyah Boston on the bench with foul trouble, Kentucky led by nine right before the half, and one of the best players in the country Rhyne Howard
lit it up with 32 points. But with Boston back in the game in the second half, and a big night from guard Destanni Henderson (22 points), the Gamecocks surged and were able to come away with a 75-70 win.
UConn’s only other nonleague game on the schedule is against South Carolina, Feb. 8 at Gampel Pavilion.
Baylor still on pause
After Baylor coach Kim Mulkey tested positive for COVID-19 last week, the Lady Bears have remained on pause.
In addition to the cancellation of the UConn game, Baylor had to postponed two Big 12 matchups, including its upcoming one against Kansas on Wednesday due to “BU not meeting the Big 12’s roster thresholds,” per a release. Baylor is now hoping to make its return Saturday against Iowa State.
Big East update
After five of the 11 Big East women’s basketball programs were paused at one point last week, St. John’s resumed game play Saturday against Butler.
Georgetown (Jan. 13), Marquette (Jan. 15), Creighton and Xavier (Jan. 16) appear to be due back on the court this week if all goes to plan.
Elsewhere in the nation
While South Carolina reigned supreme in the SEC last season, there’s a team this season that looks poised to fiercely challenge them for the conference’s top spot. Texas A&M is the conference’s only remaining undefeated team (South Carolina lost to NC State) at 12-0. That includes 3-0 in conference play after a dramatic finish Sunday against Arkansas, which came down to a game-winning last-second layup from Jordan Nixon.
Following a 7-1 start and most recently beating then-No. 7 Arizona in overtime, Washington State earned its first Associated Press ranking in school
history. According to the AP, the Cougars were the last of all Power Five programs to make an appearance in Top 25. They are second in the Pac-12 standings behind top-ranked Stanford.
Other freshman stars
Paige Bueckers may be the most heralded freshmen at UConn in quite some time, but the point guard is keeping her eye on many of her fellow freshmen across the country and how they’ve made splashes so far.
Bueckers said she’s kept in touch with several members of her class, including Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, Louisville’s Hailey Van Lith, Stanford’s Cameron Brink and Oregon’s Te-Hina Paopao, and has enjoyed watching them shine from far.
Averaging 25.6 points for the 8-2 Hawkeyes, Clark was the only freshman besides Bueckers to make the Wooden Award midseason watch list.
“I think this is a really loaded 2020 class, and I’ve been really happy for others finding success at their schools,” Bueckers said last week. “Caitlin specifically, we talk quite a bit. Just to see the things she’s doing, and she’s doing really great things — she’s leading the country in scoring as a freshman. I’ve known her for a very long time, and that’s what she does. She’s a playmaker. She’s a scorer. She’s just a really great player, so just to see her continue to do that at the college level, it’s pretty cool to see.”
Weekly honors
For the fourth time in the last five weeks, Bueckers was named the Big East freshman of the week following her 23-point outing on 8-for-10 shooting against Providence. Sophomore Aubrey Griffin earned a spot on the conference’s weekly honor roll after a season-best 18 points and nine rebounds Saturday.
UConn fell to No. 4 in the AP rankings after being tied at No. 3 with NC State last week. No. 1 Stanford earned all but one first-place vote, with the Wolfpack tallying the other.