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From Barrett, Logan, Mommy and Daddy
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Skinnier and smaller in stature, but all the moves were there early.
14 years old and starting on varsity. Amazing young woman.
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It's AZZI Time!!
Azzi Fudd + the Cadets back in the lab this weekend 🧪 @azzi_35 @vidaurre_zoe @delaneythomas21 pic.twitter.com/c8PoUCyBfH
— Who's Next (@WhosNextHS) February 13, 2021
If you are looking for something to do until Wednesday's game
here is the full game
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Coming to UConn in 2022
A little ICE!!!!!
Who told @IsunehBrady to be this filthy on the court? The game looks easy. @UConnWBB committ.
— Certified Sniper 📷 (@_TheRealJayWill) February 14, 2021
🎥: @ballislifewbb_ pic.twitter.com/oaD7TxI28f
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It's going to be a tough choice this year. Several players deserve consideration including UConn's own Paige Bueckers. But I think we should kiss that opportunity goodbye for Charli Collier of Texas.
In a horrible loss to Baylor, Collier basically quit on her team. Her attitude was one of disinterest. She didn't even take a shot in the second half before fouling out.
In this game, she was 1-3 from the field, 0-1 on threes, 5 rebounds, 3 turnovers and 5 fouls.
No, not a player of the year candidate.
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And in a wonderful segue, Baylor beat Texas 60-35. Yes, Texas scored only 35 points.
The Longhorns shot 25% from the field, 1-12 on threes, 4-10 on free throws and they had 16 turnovers and 21 personal fouls. The 35 points qualifies them immediately for the UGGY award and the other stats just verify it.
So congrats Vic. You team really sucked Sunday but at least you can put this trophy in your trophy case.
Texas baby!!!!
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No. 3 Louisville at Syracuse - Postponed
No. 8 UCLA at Colorado - Postponed
No. 12 Ohio State vs No. 21 Northwestern - Postponed
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By David in Naples
Much has been made of UConn’s “slow start” in their last few games. Is it true? Here are the last 3 games, points per quarter:
South Carolina = 10, 14, 21, 9 and 9. (Overtime)
Seton Hall = 10, 16, 23, 21
Georgetown = 13, 16, 18, 17
There is most definitely a pattern. Slow start, improvement and then pulling away. I guess if the Huskies are going to start slow, it is a good thing they heat up and finish strong.
Go Huskies..!
South Carolina = 10, 14, 21, 9 and 9. (Overtime)
Seton Hall = 10, 16, 23, 21
Georgetown = 13, 16, 18, 17
There is most definitely a pattern. Slow start, improvement and then pulling away. I guess if the Huskies are going to start slow, it is a good thing they heat up and finish strong.
Go Huskies..!
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By Phil
There has been a little chatter about possibly forgoing conference tournaments and using the time to replay postponed games. One of the arguments against this is the likelihood that it would eliminate the chance of some Cinderella teams. The canonical example is a team that struggles early in the season, gets better throughout the season but doesn't have a strong enough resume to deserve an invite as an at-large team, but upsets a stronger team in their conference to win the conference championship. A loss in the conference championship would have meant not being invited to the tournament, but the upset win earns them an invitation, and they go on to have a run in the NCAA tournament. There are probably numerous examples on the men's side, but the most recent example on the women's side (as pointed out by Charlie Creme) is Missouri State, who upset Drake and earned the automatic bid for Missouri Valley conference. With an RPI of 52, they probably wouldn't have earned a bid as an at-large, although they would probably have been on the bubble. They did not go deep, but they did upset Depaul in the first round and Iowa State in the second round to make it to the Sweet 16.
Other examples include teams like Portland State who finished fourth in the Big Sky conference regular season in 2019, but won the conference tournament and earned a place in the NCAA tournament.They didn't go far, losing 78 – 40 to Oregon in the first round, but even that loss might be viewed as better than sitting home watching games on TV. Towson is another example, finishing third in the Colonial Athletic Association conference but winning the conference tournament. That earned them the first ever invite to the NCAA tournament and a beat down by UConn 110 – 61, but I don't think they would trade that experience for anything. Buffalo is another example of the team that did not win the regular-season in the Mid-America conference but won the conference tournament to earn an invite. They first faced Rutgers and upset them, then interestingly also faced UConn, and lost but only by 12 points.
Bethune-Cookman finish third in the Mideastern Athletic Conference but won their conference tournament, to earn their first ever invite to the NCAA tournament. They lost 92 – 50 to Notre Dame in an opening-round game. Abilene Christian finished fourth in the Southland conference, but a conference win also gave them their first ever NCAA invitation. They lost 95-38 to Baylor and an opening-round.
BYU finished second in the West Coast conference but upset Gonzaga to win the conference tournament. However with an RPI of 26, they probably an at-large bid without the automatic bid.
While we don't know for sure how the selection committee will make its selections without conference tournaments, one plausible scenario is they simply choose the regular-season conference leader, which means invites for an upset in a conference tournament won't exist.
I identified six teams, almost 10% of the field, in 2019 that wouldn't have a chance for an NCAA tournament experience if conference tournaments are eliminated and the regular-season conference leader gets the automatic bid.
When I started writing this, I guessd that they would only be one or two examples each year, and that might be a small price to pay to allow regular-season games to be made up. However, I'm troubled by how many teams are affected.
I will throw out an off the top my head proposal, which needs some tweaking, which might balance out the competing interest.
Note that every one of these examples occurs in a conference that typically only gets one bid. What if we said the top eight or 10 conferences, the ones that typically get more than one invite to the postseason tournament, were to forgo conference tournaments and schedule as many makeup games as possible. The remaining conferences would do a hybrid approach — inviting the top four teams for a shortened three-game conference tournament, and using the rest of the time to reschedule postponed games. Every one of the teams that earned one of the upset bids was in the top four in their conference, so this only eliminates teams beyond the top four who very rarely managed to win the conference tournament.
Other examples include teams like Portland State who finished fourth in the Big Sky conference regular season in 2019, but won the conference tournament and earned a place in the NCAA tournament.They didn't go far, losing 78 – 40 to Oregon in the first round, but even that loss might be viewed as better than sitting home watching games on TV. Towson is another example, finishing third in the Colonial Athletic Association conference but winning the conference tournament. That earned them the first ever invite to the NCAA tournament and a beat down by UConn 110 – 61, but I don't think they would trade that experience for anything. Buffalo is another example of the team that did not win the regular-season in the Mid-America conference but won the conference tournament to earn an invite. They first faced Rutgers and upset them, then interestingly also faced UConn, and lost but only by 12 points.
Bethune-Cookman finish third in the Mideastern Athletic Conference but won their conference tournament, to earn their first ever invite to the NCAA tournament. They lost 92 – 50 to Notre Dame in an opening-round game. Abilene Christian finished fourth in the Southland conference, but a conference win also gave them their first ever NCAA invitation. They lost 95-38 to Baylor and an opening-round.
BYU finished second in the West Coast conference but upset Gonzaga to win the conference tournament. However with an RPI of 26, they probably an at-large bid without the automatic bid.
While we don't know for sure how the selection committee will make its selections without conference tournaments, one plausible scenario is they simply choose the regular-season conference leader, which means invites for an upset in a conference tournament won't exist.
I identified six teams, almost 10% of the field, in 2019 that wouldn't have a chance for an NCAA tournament experience if conference tournaments are eliminated and the regular-season conference leader gets the automatic bid.
When I started writing this, I guessd that they would only be one or two examples each year, and that might be a small price to pay to allow regular-season games to be made up. However, I'm troubled by how many teams are affected.
I will throw out an off the top my head proposal, which needs some tweaking, which might balance out the competing interest.
Note that every one of these examples occurs in a conference that typically only gets one bid. What if we said the top eight or 10 conferences, the ones that typically get more than one invite to the postseason tournament, were to forgo conference tournaments and schedule as many makeup games as possible. The remaining conferences would do a hybrid approach — inviting the top four teams for a shortened three-game conference tournament, and using the rest of the time to reschedule postponed games. Every one of the teams that earned one of the upset bids was in the top four in their conference, so this only eliminates teams beyond the top four who very rarely managed to win the conference tournament.
Is this worth pursuing?
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No. 1 South Carolina 66 LSU 59 - The Gamecocks started fast to defeat LSU for their 31st straight Southeastern Conference victory. Henderson scored 19 points and Aliyah Boston added 12 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks as the Gamecocks beat LSU for a 12th straight time. Boston's double-double was her 10th this season and 23rd of her career. Zia Cooke added 13 points for the Gamecocks. Jailin Cherry had a career-high 19 points to lead LSU (8-10, 6-6). Faustine Aifuwa had 11 points and 12 rebounds, her ninth double-double this season for the Tigers. LSU rallied in the fourth quarter to tighten the game. The Tigers forced eight South Carolina turnovers in the final period. The Gamecocks used a 12-0 run and some tight defense in the opening quarter to build a big lead that LSU could not overcome. The Tigers trailed by 18 in the third quarter before getting within single digits at the end. Cooke started the run with a jumper and two foul shots. Henderson hit a basket and Boston followed with two inside shots before Henderson scored the next five points. Henderson kept the pressure on LSU with a sweet driving, left-handed layup and a long 3 as South Carolina went up 27-13. Henderson finished with three of South Carolina's four 3-pointers.
No. 6 Texas A&M 80 No. 16 Tennessee 70 - Texas A&M defeated Tennessee 80-70 on Sunday afternoon in Reed Arena, with A&M officials earlier in the day encouraging fans to not attend because of icy conditions enveloping Southeast Texas.The Aggies won their seventh consecutive game, and continue positioning themselves for a top one or two seed in the NCAA tournament, which is being held in its entirety in and around San Antonio this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Senior guard Destiny Pitts led the Aggies with 18 points, and A&M made 56 percent of its 3-point attempts. Tennessee leads the all-time series 8-7, while the Aggies have won three consecutive games against the Lady Volunteers, and improved to 4-1 against Tennessee in Reed Arena. The Aggies defeated their eighth ranked opponent this season, tops in the nation.
No. 7 Baylor 60 Texas 35 - Baylor's suffocating defense held Texas to single digits in the first three quarters and completely shut down 6-5 junior center Charlie Collier in blowing out the Longhorns, 60-35, Sunday afternoon at the Ferrell Center. Collier, who came in averaging 22.3 points and 12.8 rebounds, had more turnovers (3) than points (2) when she fouled out with 1:49 left in the game. Getting identical double-doubles from Queen Egbo and Moon Ursin, with 11 points and 12 rebounds each, Baylor dominated the boards, 51-31. NaLyssa Smith added 14 points and eight rebounds, DiJonai Carrington chipped in with 13 points and DiDi Richards had 10 assists and moved into fourth all-time on Baylor's career list. Celeste Taylor scored 11 points for the Longhorns who shot just 25 percent overall from the floor and 1-of-12 from 3-point range.
No. 9 Maryland 95 Nebraska 73 - No. 9 Maryland was dominating in their win over Nebraska at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The nation’s No. 1 offense looked the part. Maryland made 9 of its first 11 shots to lead 20-9. Four Maryland players finished with at least 16 points. The Terrapins shot 56% from the field, and 50% on threes (8-of-19). In the first half, Maryland had 23 scores on 33 possessions. After Nebraska made a bit of a run in the third quarter, Maryland finished the quarter on a 21-4 run. Maryland scored 27 points in the first quarter, 24 in the second, 26 in the third and 18 in the fourth. Nebraska didn’t get 20 points in a quarter until the fourth quarter. Sophomore guard Ashley Owusu led Maryland with 25 points on 10-for-15 shooting from the field and also had seven assists. Diamond Miller had 24 points, and Chloe Bibby added 16 with four three-pointers. Sunday was coach Brenda Frese’s 500th win as coach of the Terrapins. Freshman guard Ruby Porter led the Huskers with a career-high 19 points, and Bourne had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. What impressed Williams the most is that neither Porter or Bourne committed a turnover.
No. 10 Arizona 75 Washington 53 - Washington fell to No. 10 Arizona Sunday in Tucson, Ariz. The Wildcats shot 63.6% from the field in the first half and only missed one three-point shot. Arizona's offense continued to cook in the second half. The Wildcats were led by guard Aari McDonald and forward Sam Thomas, who both scored 20 points. The Wildcats were also lights out from three hitting 12 threes on 75% shooting. The Huskies were unable to keep up with the Wildcats after the slow start offensively. Sophomore center Quay Miller was the leading scorer for the Huskies finishing the game with 13 points and nine rebounds. Junior forward Haley Van Dyke was the only other Husky in double figures finishing the game with 12 points. The Huskies once again had difficulty holding onto the ball, turning it over 19 times. Arizona was able to capitalize on these turnovers scoring 17 points off of turnovers. Washington’s previous matchup against Arizona was postponed due to Covid-19 issues with the Washington program.
No. 15 Indiana 58 Illinois 50 - Ali Patberg scored 16 points and No. 15 Indiana overcame a horrible shooting day to turn back Illinois 58-50. Indiana was 2 of 12 from 3-point range (17%), 18 of 57 overall (32%) and 20 of 30 from the foul line. It was the overall worst shooting game of the season and the first time the 72% free throw shooting team missed 10 from the line. It added up to the Hoosiers matching their lowest output of the season, a 66-58 loss to Tennessee when they went 2 for 27 from 3-point range and shot 32%. By they did make the plays down the stretch. Jada Pebbles led Illinois, which shot 30% and made 9 of 10 from the line, with 13 points.
No. 23 South Dakota State 73 Oral Roberts 61 - South Dakota State won over Oral Roberts on Sunday afternoon at the Mabee Center in Tulsa. Myah Selland had one of the best performances of her career, scoring a career-high 30 points on 16 shots, going 11-of-16 from the floor, 6-of-7 from the line and 2-for-3 on 3-pointer adding eight rebounds and six assists. Paiton Burckhard added 12 points and Tylee Irwin 11. SDSU led by six at halftime and by five after three, but a couple minutes into the fourth it was still a one-score game. The Jacks turned up the defense when it mattered however, holding ORU to 10 points in the fourth and closing the game on a 10-0 run. The Eagles had been 10-of-20 from 3-point land through three quarters, but were 0-for-7 in the fourth. SDSU tied a season-high with seven blocked shots in the game. SDSU outscored ORU 38-24 in the paint and 12-3 at the line. Freshman Tierney Coleman had 22 points and five assists for ORU, while Ariel Walker had 11 points and Faith Paramore 10. Regan Schumacher had eight points and nine rebounds.
No. 24 Georgia 82 Missouri 64 - Gabby Connally scored 29 points, sinking six 3-pointers, Jenna Staiti scored 12 of her 18 points after halftime and No. 24 Georgia broke away from Missouri 82-64 Sunday afternoon. Breaking out of a 35-35 halftime tie, Georgia shot 47% in the second half, with Connally making five of the Bulldogs six 3-pointers. Ladazhia Williams led Missouri with 17 points with Haley Troup and Hayley Frank adding 14 each. Troup was 2 for 2 from distance, Frank was 3 for 3 from behind the arc. Staiti, who was held to six points at halftime, opened the third quarter with a layup to break the tie and scored eight points in the first five minutes. She finished with her 11th double-double in the last 29 games, pulling down 11 rebounds. Connally buried a 3-pointer to break a 39-39 tie three minutes after halftime and the Bulldogs led the rest of the way, Que Morrison added 11 points and 10 rebounds and four assists for Georgia.
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