Another week of “fan-ing around and finding out” reveals women’s college basketball is where the action resides. Most of the Top 25 teams were huge favorites, leading to predictable results. Number 3 USC won by 85 points and #7 LSU defeated Charleston Southern by a score of 117-44. These wins were very familiar over the course of week 2. Blowouts were the rule, but there were exceptions. Number 20 Kentucky defeated #18 Louisville 71-61 in overtime. An unranked Indiana managed to upset #24 Stanford 79-66.
TCU took down #13 NC State 76-73 giving NC State their second loss of the season and a likely drop out of the Top 25. The game of the week saw #2 UConn taking on #14 North Carolina, where Paige Bueckers’ buzzer-beater to end the 1st quarter led to plenty more buckets, banishing the Tar Heels with a score of 69-58. Bueckers scored 29 points, and her coach, Geno Auriemma, tied the all-time Division I wins record at 1,216.
Our first-ever BGX Player of the Week is Harmoni Turner from Harvard, who had a 41-point, 10-rebound game in a win over Boston College, followed up with 38 points and a win against Maine. Hannah Hidalgo stuffed the stat sheet Sunday, Nov. 17, with 29 points, 5 assists, 5 steals, 3 rebounds, and 1 block. Her teammate at Notre Dame, Olivia Miles, added 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists, becoming the first women’s college basketball player with multiple 20-point, 10-rebound, 5-assist games this season. Hailey Van Lith assured everyone her decision to transfer was the right one with an 18-point, 10-assist, 4-rebound game in the upset of # 13 NC State. In the loss, Aziaha James of NC State continues to impress while waiting for the rest of the Wolfpack to follow her lead. James scored 27 points, going 10-18 from the field. Georgia Tech freshman Dani Carnegie had a noteworthy game off the bench in a win against Georgia, putting up 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists. Kentucky’s Teonni Key, in an upset win over Louisville, gave the Wildcats 17 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 blocks. JuJu Watkins became the fastest Power 4 player to reach 1,000 career points.
Sunday determined the WNBA Draft Lottery, and the Dallas Wings will have the 1st overall pick, followed by the Los Angeles Sparks, Chicago Sky, Washington Mystics, Golden State Valkyries, Washington Mystics, New York Liberty, Indiana Fever, Seattle Storm, Chicago Sky, Minnesota Lynx, and Phoenix Mercury.
Women’s college basketball is exploding with talented, prospective WNBA players, and the next draft class will be doing all they can on the court this season to position themselves to have their name called Monday, April 14, 2025, at the WNBA draft.
Top 25 Rankings
1. South Carolina
2. UConn
3. USC
4. Texas
5. UCLA
6. Notre Dame
7. LSU
8. Iowa State
9. Oklahoma
10. Kansas State
11. Maryland
12. Ohio State
13. NC State
14. North Carolina
15. West Virginia
16. Duke
17. Baylor
18. Louisville
19. Ole Miss
20. Kentucky
21. Nebraska
22. Alabama
23. Illinois
24. Stanford
25. Oregon
Watchability
South Carolina(#1) vs. Clemson – Wednesday, Nov. 20, 5 p.m. EST/4 p.m. CST, ESPN2)
Auburn vs. Oregon(#25) – Wednesday, Nov. 20, 9 p.m. EST/ 8 p.m. CST, FOX Sports)
Belmont vs. Duke(#16) –Thursday, Nov. 21, 7 p.m. EST/6 p.m. CST, ACC Network)
Notre Dame(#6) vs. USC(#3) –Saturday, Nov. 23, 4 p.m. EST/3 p.m. CST, NBC/Peacock)
South Carolina(#1) vs. UCLA(#5) (Sunday, Nov. 24, 4 p.m. EST/3 p.m. CST, FS1)
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