Daily Briefing — Dec. 3, 2021: N.C. State, Louisville, Duke reign for ACC

(All times in Eastern)

Watch List, Friday, Dec. 3

Must-watch

None

Good games

None

Also watchable

Kansas State @ South Carolina, 7 p.m., SEC Network+

Sickos games

None

Pac-12 or Big 10 on national television (or national streaming)

None

Thursday, Dec. 2 recap: Blue Devils duke it out

#2 N.C. State, #6 Indiana: The Wolfpack beat the Hoosiers 66-58. N.C. State did its best to get revenge for last year’s Sweet Sixteen loss; the first half was an all-time sicko-fest, with the teams combining for just 44 points. The Wolfpack have now played a No. 1-ranked team, a No. 2, and a No. 6 and come away 2-1 with a +17 point differential. Point guard Diamond Johnson led N.C. State with 19 points on 7-for-16 shooting (2-5 3pt.), six rebounds, three assists, and three steals against three turnovers and four fouls off the bench; combo forward Kayla Jones notched her first double-double of the season, with 17 points on 6-for-14 from the field and 2-for-7 from three and 11 rebounds (four offensive) without a turnover or foul; point guard Raina Perez scored 13 points on 3-for-6 FG (1-2 3pt., 6-6 FT) with five rebounds and three assists. Indiana center Mackenzie Holmes scored a game-high 24 points on 9-for-14 from the field and 2-for-4 from three (4-6 FT) with four rebounds; the Grace Berger-Ali Patberg-Nicole Cardaño-Hillary backcourt combined to for 20 points on 8-for-27 shooting (1-11 3pt.), 18 rebounds, 11 assists, five steals, and nine turnovers, with Cardaño-Hillary in particular struggling on 0-for-10 (0-6 3pt.).

#8 Maryland: 82-74 win over Miami. The Terps had to be +9 in the fourth quarter to make this look as clean as it was, making this the second-straight “yikes!” game for Maryland and the second-straight “wow!” game for the Hurricanes (who lost by two to Indiana last weekend). I’m willing to waive this one for the Terps, as they just welcomed two integral pieces back from a bad bout of a flu and four of their healthy players averaged 38 minutes a night across three games last week. (Editor’s note: And Diamond Miller is a big missing piece!)

Big Angel Reese led Maryland with 26 points on 10-for-14 shooting with 15 rebounds (eight offensive) for a double-double against five turnovers; point guard Ashley Owusu scored 22 points despite 5-for-14 from the field by going 12-for-14 from the line, with three assists and no turnovers; combo guard Katie Benzan scored nine points on 2-for-7 shooting (1-4 3pt.) with two assists against three turnovers and four fouls in 29 minutes in her return; big Faith Masonius had eight points on 3-for-5 FG, six rebounds, two assists, and three steal in 31 minutes in her return. Miami was led by combo guard Kelsey Marshall’s 24 points on 7-for-19 from the field and 5-for-12 from three (5-6 FT) and six assists against three turnovers.

#9 Iowa, RV* Duke: The Blue Devils beat the Hawkeyes 79-60. Playing its first game in two weeks because of COVID, Iowa opened the game 6-0 and trailed by the late first quarter; scored only four points between the start of the second half and 3:30 in the third quarter; held to its fewest points since February 2020. Duke out-rebounded the Hawkeyes by 10, out-shot them +4.1% from the field and +12.8% from three. The teams combined for 35 turnovers, the fourth straight game for the Blue Devils with at least 17 turnovers and fifth in its past six.

Point guard Shayeann Day-Wilson scored a Duke-high 19 points off the bench on 6-for-11 from the field and 4-for-7 from three with four rebounds, assists, and steals; off-ball guard Celeste Taylor notched a 17-point, 13-rebound double-double on 6-for-12 shooting with two assists and two blocks against five turnovers. Iowa point guard Caitlin Clark scored 22 points on 9-for-27 from the field and 1-for-13 from three with nine rebounds and eight assists, narrowly missing a triple-double; center Monika Czinano had 21 points on 9-for-12 FG and six rebounds (three offensive) against five turnovers.

#10 Louisville, #12 Michigan: The Cardinals beat the Wolverines 70-48. Michigan opened the game with a 7-2 lead, and even if you read the Iowa-Duke section, you’re unprepared for what came next: Louisville went on a 25-2 through the mid-second quarter, en route to holding the Wolverines to 15 first-half points. The Wolverines shot 37.0% from the field and 13.3% from three while taking 18 fewer shots than the Cardinals, thanks to 24 turnovers and a -13 rebounding margin; Louisville shot 45.3% overall and 45.0% from deep.

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Cardinal big wing Emily Engstler had a team-high 18 points on 8-for-15 shooting (2-4 3pt.) and 14 rebounds for a double-double with two assists, five steals, and two blocks against five turnovers and three fouls; wing Kianna Smith scored 17 points on 6-for-13 from the field and 4-for-8 from three with two steals. Big Naz Hillmon led Michigan with 12 points on 5-for-9 FG, eight rebounds, two steals, and two blocks against five turnovers.

#13 South Florida: 61-56 loss to UT-Arlington. The game was neck-and-neck the whole way, until the Mavericks scored six unanswered points between 1:15 in the third and 3:57 in the fourth quarter — yeah, it was that kind of game. UT Arlington outshot the Bulls by 11.8% from the field but on 16 fewer attempts, thanks to 20 tries from the line; South Florida shot just 22.7% on 22 three-point attempts.

Maverick point guard Terryn Milton scored a game-high 14 points — again, it was that kind of game — on 5-for-10 shooting, plus five rebounds and three turnovers; big wing Starr Jacobs had 10 points on 5-for-11 FG, nine rebounds and four assists against three turnovers. Combo forward Bethy Mununga led the Bulls with a double-double of 13 points on 6-for-10 shooting (1-1 3pt.) and 20 rebounds (six offensive), plus two assists, steals, and blocks against three turnovers; the Elisa Pinzan-Sydni Harvey-Elena Tsineke backcourt combined for 31 points on 11-for-46 from the field and 4-for-18 from three, with Pinzan adding 11 assists and four steals.

#14 Iowa State: 69-60 loss to LSU. The Cyclones led for exactly 12 seconds, coming near the start of the first quarter. Iowa State shot a respectable 40.4% from the field and 39.1% from three, but were outshot by 4.8% overall by the Tigers on an extra 10 attempts; the Cyclones were a -9 in turnover margin. Combo guard Alexis Morris scored a game-high 25 points on 9-of-18 from the field and 5-of-7 from three for LSU with two steals; point guard Khayla Pointer had 20 points on 9-of-19 shooting (1-2 3pt.), six rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and no turnovers; bench point guard Ryann Payne notched nine points on 4-for-7 FG, three rebounds, three assists, and five steals without a turnover. Cyclone big wing Ashley Joens had 24 points on 8-for-12 from the field (4-6 3pt.) and eight rebounds against three turnovers; point guard Emily Ryan and combo guard Lexi Donarski combined to go 4-for-15 from two with nine turnovers, with off-ball guard Aubrey Joens adding an 0-for-4 from deep.

#20 Georgia: 66-56 win over Texas Tech. Trailed by one at the half, then used a +7 third quarter to pull away; were outschot by 6.5% overall, but took 11 more shots thanks to a +9 turnover margin. Four starters played at least 34 minutes. Point guard Que Morrison had 20 points on 6-for-17 from the field (2-5 3pt., 6-6 FT), three rebounds, four assists, and three steals against three turnovers without hitting the bench; center Jenna Staiti notched 12 points on 6-for-12 shooting, nine rebounds (five offensive), two steals, and two blocks. The Raiders were led by center Khadija Faye’s 15 points on 6-for-13 FG (3-6 FT), seven rebounds (six offensive), and four blocks.

#24 Notre Dame: 76-71 win over Michigan State. Trailed by six at the mid-first quarter, but pulled ahead in the mid-second, and kept around a couple possessions ahead through the second half. Wing Sonia Citron scored a career-high 29 points on 9-for-12 shooting (3-4 3pt., 8-8 FT) with five rebounds, three assists, and no turnovers in 27 bench minutes; point guard Olivia Miles came close to a triple-double, with 11 points (5-15 FG, 1-4 3pt.), 11 rebounds (four offensive), and eight assists against three turnovers. Point guard Nia Clouden led the Spartans with 20 points on 4-for-15 shooting (1-6 3pt., 11-12 FT), six rebounds, six assists, and three steals.

#25 Florida State: 67-58 win over Illinois. Big wing Morgan Jones had a double-double on 12 points (6-12 FG) and 10 rebounds, plus six assists and four steals; bench point guard O’Mariah Gordon set career-highs with 12 points on 5-of-7 from the field (2-3 3pt.) and four rebounds, plus two assists and two steals; big Makayla Timpson tied a career high of 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting with nine rebounds (seven offensive) and two steals against three turnovers; Bianca Jackson, the team’s starting point guard, returned to the lineup after missing three straight games — culminating in losses to now-No. 21 BYU and RV Purdue — and played 19 bench minutes, finishing with five points on 2-of-8 from the field (1-3 3pt.), two assists, and two turnovers.

RV Arkansas: 52-51 loss to UCF. Opened the game on a 10-0 run, but the Knights made it a back-and-forth affair by halftime; the Razorbacks still had a one-point lead with 10 seconds left, and, well…. Point guard Makayla Daniels scored a game-high 18 points on 5-for-10 from the field and 4-for-8 from three with six rebounds and three steals. Wing Tay Sanders led the Knights with 15 points on 4-for-13 shooting (1-3 3pt., 6-8 FT), eight rebounds, and three steals without a turnover.

RV Washington State: 72-58 win over San Francisco. Did not hold a lead from the mid-first quarter until there were three seconds left in the half. The teams committed 18 turnovers each. Combo guard Charlisse Leger-Walker had a season-high 27 points on 8-for-16 from the field and 5-for-10 from three (6-7 FT) with four rebounds, three steals, and two blocks; center Bella Murekatete notched 16 points on 8-for-15 shooting, eight rebounds (four offensive), and two steals while fouling out in just 23 minutes.

Northwestern: 72-61 win over Clemson. Trailed from the mid-first quarter through the late third. Point guard Veronica Burton scored a career-high 32 points on 8-for-13 from the field and 14-for-15 from the line with five rebounds, four assists, two steals, and three blocks.

Delaware: 73-67 loss to Columbia. Had an eight-point lead early in the fourth quarter but got outscored by 12 across the period; the Lions are a good team, and this is a respectable loss. Anyway, on to the reason we’re here:

The Daily Briefing Jasmine Dickey Scoring Watch: 23 points yesterday; 28.3 points per game (100th percentile), 39.3% usage rate (100th percentile, per Her Hoop Stats).

Fordham: 71-59 win over Stony Brook. In a matchup of top-tier mid-majors, a +7 first quarter fueled the Rams’ victory. Fordham shot 50.8% from the field and 31.6% from three. Combo guard Anna DeWolfe led with 28 points on 11-for-18 from the field and 4-for-7 from three, five assists, and three steals against five turnovers.

Rhode Island: 66-54 loss to Holy Cross. The Rams have had a really good non-conference run so far, including an eight-point win over Princeton, 24-point win over Harvard and 10-point win over Virginia, but have now lost back-to-back games by 12 points to relatively good mid-majors.

Virginia: Won a second game! 60-44 over William & Mary. Still committed 23 turnovers and shot 35.7% from the line.

Blown Leads

Fresno State: 73-72 loss to Cal. Had a 95.3% win expectancy with a six-point lead, just over three minutes remaining and possession. Allowed five straight Golden Bear points while missing four shots and committing two turnovers to let Cal get back in the game.

*Receiving Votes