Hello basketball fans!
What a week of women’s college basketball. Sunday alone was perhaps the best day of games this season. One week ago there were 12 undefeated squads. Now we are down to just four! There’s a lot to catch up on, so let’s get to it:
The best use of words in human history
I might give up writing, because honestly, there is nothing I could ever write that would be as perfect a turn of phrase as what I heard during No. 11 Kentucky’s upset of No. 5 LSU. With 1:35 left in regulation, the two teams are tied at 75. Teonni Key tracks down a loose ball – one of many she snagged during the game – and the announcer utters these words: “Key is like a rat on a Cheeto!” Honestly? Yeah, she was like a rat on a cheeto. I’ve never seen a rat eat a Cheeto, but I guarantee if one was on offer any self-respecting rat would lose its mind to possess the crunchy, cheesy snack.
In addition to inspiring my new favorite phrase, Key was outstanding on the basketball court. She finished the upset with 17 points and 16 rebounds, and truly was all over the court, hunting down loose balls like a ravenous rodent (complimentary, of course).
Tonie Morgan says F your feelings
Kentucky’s dynamic guard was ready for LSU on Thursday. Not only did she finish with 24 points, 12 assists and 0 turnovers (!!!), but Morgan also went into Baton Rouge and beat LSU at its own game.
The Tigers are prolific trash-talkers. I have no problem with this. It’s part of the game, and a fun part, in my opinion. But the thing about talking trash is, you have to either back it up, or face the consequences. So when Jada Richard scored on Morgan at the end of the third quarter and Morgan fell to the ground, Richard was well within her rights to tell Morgan to, “Get your ass up.”
Morgan did in fact, get her ass up. She also got a game-winning shot up, and got Kentucky up in the SEC poll. Her buzzer-beating 3-pointer also handed LSU its first loss of the season. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what we call a consequence.
Avery Howell is a dawg (in more ways than one)
As a freshman at USC last season, Avery Howell was a sensational shooter, making 40% of her attempts from long range. Now, after transferring to Washington and becoming a Husky, Howell has taken a major jump in production. She’s averaging 13.8 points and 7.9 rebounds her game (up from 7.5 and 3 last season). She’s also shooting 44.4% from beyond the arc, despite shooting more this season.
Howell had the game of her career on Thursday, scoring 22 points and grabbing a career-high 16 rebounds to lead her Huskies past No. 6 Michigan 64-52. She was the best player on the court in a game that featured her fellow Canadian National Team member, Syla Swords. Her coach, Tina Langley, said Howell is the hardest worker on the team, and it shows in her play.
The most interesting mid-season roster addition came just days ago, when Texas Tech signed 7-foot-1 center Stephanie Okechukwu from Nigeria. Okechukwu is the tallest player in NCAA women’s basketball history, and she will be a crucial piece for Texas Tech, who happens to be one of the four remaining undefeated squads.
Height aside, Okechukwu seems like a super interesting person. She speaks three languages, has six siblings and went to high school in Japan. Stay tuned, because I plan to learn way more about her and hopefully, share it with all of you!
You get an upset! You get an upset! Everybody gets an upset!
If you actually have a life, unlike me, and didn’t spend all day Thursday, all day Saturday and all day Sunday on the couch watching basketball, I imagine your head is spinning from all of those upsets. If you watched everything, your head is probably still spinning, because it was pure chaos. I take to women’s college basketball like a rat on a Cheeto, and even I felt a bit overwhelmed trying to switch between games in order to take in every second of action. Here’s a snapshot of this week’s upsets:
No. 11 Kentucky 80, No. 5 LSU 78: Tonie Morgan leads Kentucky with 24 points, Teonni Key and Clara Strack combine for 32 points and 25 rebounds and Asia Boone comes off the bench to hit five 3-pointers for 18 points.
Washington 64, No. 6 Michigan 52: Avery Howell scores 22 points to lead all scorers, while Washington holds Michigan to just 33% shooting and 21% from beyond the arc.
Illinois 73, No. 7 Maryland 70: The Illini handed Maryland its first loss of the season behind a trio of scorers. Berry Wallace had 22 and Gretchen Dolan and Cearah Parchment each had 17. Illinois also forced 18 turnovers.
Georgia Tech 95, No. 18 Notre Dame 90: It took overtime, but Georgia Tech secured the upset thanks to a career-high 33 points from sophomore guard Talayah Walker. She also added 11 rebounds for a double-double.
Utah 87, No. 8 TCU 77: Another previously unbeaten squad bites the dust. Senior Lani White scored 25 points, knocking down four 3-pointers to lead the Utes to victory. Sidenote: White played her first two seasons at Utah, transferred to Virginia Tech last season and is now back to finish her career. The portal rages on!
No. 12 Vanderbilt 65, No. 5 LSU 61: Thanks to 32 points from Mikayla Blakes, Vandy earned its first win over a top-5 team since 2009. For context, in 2009 Barack Obama was sworn in for his first term (that feels like a lifetime ago), I saw the Hannah Montana movie in theaters and Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift at the VMAs.
No. 22 Baylor 72, No. 10 Iowa State 70: Audi Crooks and Jada Williams combined for 54 points, but it wasn’t enough to fend off the upset. Taliyah Scott continued her high-scoring ways with 21 points, and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs controlled the glass with a whopping 20 rebounds.
Stanford 77, No. 16 UNC 71: In another overtime contest (we were seriously blessed) Stanford secured its best win of the season behind 21 points from Courtney Ogden, including 4 of her team’s 12 in overtime.
Duke 82, No. 18 Notre Dame 68: The Blue Devils struggled big time to start the season, but suddenly, they’ve won six in a row. Guard Taina Mair was sensational, finishing with 23 points, 6 assists and 6 rebounds. Forward Toby Fournier was just as good with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Is Duke back? We shall see.
Felisha Legette-Jack speaks truth
Take a moment to listen to Syracuse coach Felisha Legette-Jack speak to the media after her team’s 82-72 win over Florida State on Thursday. She speaks about toughness and coaching women, not girls. I promise you’ll get something out of this one minute clip.