Week 5 of the women’s college basketball schedule is packed with key games, including the battle of Iowa State, between two of the top 10 teams.
Welcome back to FanSided’s weekly look at the world of women’s basketball. Looking for some games to watch this coming week? We’re going to highlight three of them that should be on your radar.
Whether you’re a longtime viewer just looking for a shortcut to see what you have to watch or you’re just getting into sports and want to know more about compelling storylines, we’ve got you covered. And at the end, I’m going to include a short “Other Games To Watch” section, if you want to take your basketball viewing up a notch.
Here are the college women’s basketball games you won’t want to miss this week:
3. No. 8 Iowa at No. 10 Iowa
Wednesday, December 7, 7:00 PM – ESPN2
It’s CyHawk Week, y’all! As a new transplant to Iowa, this got me excited. Iowa has two of the best programs in the nation and they will be in court on Wednesday night.
Let’s start with Iowa. This has been a great offensive team for a few years now thanks to the play of Ashley Jones, but the team added 6-foot-6 Stephanie Soares this off-season and suddenly the team has some defense as well. Last year, the Hurricanes had a defensive rating of 90.0, which ranked at 56 percent. This year, they’re at 83.8, which ranks at 79 percent. Soares still hasn’t fully figured everything out on the offensive end, but her edge protection makes the Hurricanes really difficult to drive. According to CBB Analytics, opponents have shot 48.5 percent over the edge this year against Iowa State. Last season, that number was 62.6 percent.
Which makes this meeting with Iowa great. The Hawkeyes are shooting 69.6 percent at the edge this season, and Monika Czinano is one of the most proficient players in the country. It is currently 33rd in the country in field goal percentage; Last season, she finished ninth in this statistic. So, we have a really classic matchup here between a big defensive elite and a big offensive elite. Who will win it?
(Oh, and there’s Iowa’s Kaitlin Clark, who just set the Big Ten record for career triple-doubles, but Iowa’s Clark and Ashley Jones are two of the biggest names in women’s basketball this season, so there’s not much to say about it. Them. Watch this game because of these two superstars, but pay special attention to Soares and Czinano’s fight.)
2. Toledo at No. 17 Michigan
Thursday, December 8, 8:00 PM – B1G+
Forgive me, but I was looking for an excuse to write about Toledo.
The Rockets are sitting at 6-2 on the season after beating Missouri State 91-63 on Sunday. The losses are to Duke and Penn State, with Penn State losing by one point. The team has won three in a row since then. While it may take a lot to beat a ranked Michigan team, this is a chance to see some talented MAC players take on a tough opponent. The Rockets are a very effective team, ranking 27th in the country in points per game Its stats hop, with Quincha Lockett leading, scoring 16.5 points per game. She’s a really solid ball player and she’s been a big part of the reason the Rockets have shot the ball above at least 7th in every Division I game.
On the other side is Michigan. The Wolverines could have slipped with Naz Hillmon going to the WNBA, but instead, the team is 9-0 and ranks 30th in the country in scoring. The team ranks 12th in the country in field goal percentage, with Emily Keyser averaging 19.9 points per game on 60.6 percent shooting, and just behind Leila Velia at 17.0 points per game.
But Michigan’s schedule hasn’t been the toughest. Their only ranked opponent was Baylor, and the Wolverines won 84-75, but the Bears deal with a lot of injury concerns and had several key players for it. Michigan is playing well, but the Rockets could make them sweat on Thursday.
1. No. 3 UConn @ No. 20 Maryland
Sunday – December 11, 3:00 PM – ABC
UConn suffered its first loss of the season on Sunday, going down 74-60 to Notre Dame in a game that was mentioned in our viewing guide last week. But it’s really hard to know what this loss means for the Huskies. Qazi Fad was limited to 13 minutes and did not appear at all in the second half due to a knee injury:
If Fudd wasted time, it’s really hard to know what to think about UConn. She was their best player. Over the first six games, Fudd averaged 24.0 points per game, the seventh-highest mark in Division I, and was seventh on 3-pointers per game.
Without her, UConn still has some good players. Lou Lopez-Signal scored 21 in the loss to the Irish and Aaliyah Edwards was always a threat to make things happen when she’s on the court, but Fudd is crucial to UConn’s title hopes.
As for Maryland, the Terps are sitting at 7-3 on the year. They had a win over Notre Dame but also had a 25-loss loss against South Carolina early in the season. Perhaps even more troubling is that on Sunday, Maryland lost by 23 points to Nebraska, which…the defense allows 69.9 points per game.
There are some fun guys on this team. Diamond Miller averages 18.6 points per game and has also stopped 1.9 shots per contest. This game could be a shootout, even if the math is rather simple when it comes to who wins, because it’s hard to see UConn lose this game if Fudd comes back.
Other games of note
- No. 12 NC State at Georgia – Monday, December 5, 8:00 PM – SEC Network
- No. 9 Virginia Tech at Boston College – Wednesday, December 7, 5:00 PM – Additional ACC Network
- Drake at No. 13 Creighton – Saturday, December 10, 7:00 PM – flossports
- #16 Utah @ BYU – Saturday, December 10, 7:00 PM – BYUtv
- South Florida @ #12 NC State – Sun, Dec 11, 2:00pm – ACC Network
- Oregon State @ #19 Oregon – Sunday, December 11, 7:00 PM – Pac-12 Networks
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