Daily Briefing — Dec. 6, 2021: Double triple-doubles

(All times in Eastern)

Watch List, Monday, Dec. 6

Must-watch

None

Good games

Missouri State @ South Dakota State, 8 p.m., ESPN+ — if Jackrabbit big wing Myah Selland is healthy

Also watchable

Penn State @ #6 Indiana, 6 p.m., BTN

Sickos games

None

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

Nebraska @ Minnesota, 8 p.m., BTN

See Also watchable

Sunday, Dec. 5 recap

#2 UConn, #24 Notre Dame: The Huskies beat the Irish 73-54. It was a neck-and-neck slugfest, until UConn ended the first half on a 10-2 run and won the fourth quarter by 12 for the sound margin. The Huskies held Notre Dame to season-lows in FG% and rebounding, plus their second-fewest assists and third-lowest 3P%; the Irish held UConn to its second-lowest FG% and second-fewest assists this season while forcing a season-high 21 turnovers, but the Huskies still shot 45.9% from the field and 39.1% from three while winning the rebounding battle by 13 with their second-most boards this year.

UConn point guard Paige Bueckers hyperextended her knee on a non-contact injury in the waning minutes of the game and had to be helped off the court — she was playing despite having an 18-point lead with less than a minute to go, making this the fourth time in five uncompetitive fourth quarters that head coach Geno Auriemma has played Bueckers, shooting guard Christyn Williams, wing Evina Westbrook, and big Aaliyah Edwards big minutes despite their already high usage. When asked about why that was, Auriemma did not give a direct answer, but did relay that the diagnosis will be related to hyperextension and not twisting.

Bueckers still led the team in scoring for the fifth time in six games, finishing with a game-high 22 points on 9-for-17 from the field and 3-for-7 from three, four rebounds, four assists, and five steals in 39 minutes; center Olivia Nelson-Ododa notched a 14-point, 13-rebound double-double — her first of the season — on 5-for-7 FG (4-6 FT) with five offensive rebounds and three turnovers before fouling out; freshman wing Caroline Ducharme had 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting (3-5 3pt.) and three rebounds off the bench in 14 minutes — all career-highs, and just the second time the consensus^{^} No. 10 freshman in the country has played more than five minutes this season. Freshman bench wing Sonia Citron was the only Notre Dame player to score double-figures, finishing with 19 points on 5-for-12 shooting (2-5 3pt., 7-8 FT), five rebounds (three offensive), and two steals; the Maddy Westbeld-Maya Dodson frontcourt combined to shoot 4-for-20 with 10 rebounds, four turnovers, and seven fouls.

UConn now leads the rivalry 38-13 all-time, having won three of the past four and 10 of the past 12.

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#2 N.C. State: 78-46 win over Elon. Shot 51.0% from the field and 45.0% form three. Only point guard Raina Perez (25), combo forward Jada Boyd (25), and bench combo guard Aziaha James (21) played more than 18 minutes. Boyd finished with a game-high 17 points on 5-for-8 shooting (1-2 3pt., 6-9 FT) and four rebounds (two offensive); James scored 11 points on 4-for-7 from the field and 3-for-5 from three; backup center Camille Hobby had 11 points on 4-for-5 FG, four rebounds (two offensive), and two assists; wing Madison Hayes notched nine points on 2-for-5 shooting (1-2 3pt., 4-6 FT), six rebounds, and four assists without a turnover or foul in 15 bench minutes.

#8 Maryland: 73-59 win over Rutgers. Won the second quarter 20-7, but lost the third 21-14 to allow the Scarlet Knights to close the gap. Shot just 23.1% from three, while losing the rebounding battle by seven, including allowing 20 Rutgers offensive boards. Big Angel Reese had 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting (4-8 FT), six rebounds, two assists, and four fouls in 22 minutes; combo guard Katie Benzan scored 15 points on 5-for-9 from the field and 3-for-6 from three; point guard Ashley Owusu fouled out in 30 minutes, but finished with 12 points on 3-for-6 FG (6-7 FT), five assists, and three turnovers; combo forward Chloe Bibby notched 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting (0-4 3pt.), seven rebounds, two assists, and three steals against three turnovers in 38 minutes — the fourth time in the Terps’ last five games that she’s played at least 38 minutes, which I can only assume is part of a strategy to either test the limits of human endurance or kill Bibby via exhaustion. (Editor’s note: they’re only playing seven right now, Brenda Frese told me Diamond Miller is day-to-day, so this will resolve itself soon.) The Scarlet Knights were led by Missouri transfer point guard Shug Dickson’s 18 points on 6-for-14 from the field (3-5 3pt.), five rebounds, five assists, and two steals against three turnovers.

#9 Iowa: 88-61 win over Michigan State. Went into halftime up two, then won the third quarter by 22. Held the Spartans to 39.0% from the field and 23.5% from three with 19 turnovers, though eight missed free-throws did the Spartans no favors. Point guard Caitlin Clark notched her third career triple-double, with 24 points on 9-for-25 from the field and 2-for-10 form three, 10 rebounds (her first four offensive rebounds of the year), and 12 assists, plus two steals and just two turnovers in 32 minutes — and she actually didn’t shoot much better than she did against Duke (44.8% TS% v. 38.8% TS%); wing McKenna Warnock scored a season-high 21 points on 8-for-10 shooting (3-5 3pt.) with six rebounds and three assists; center Monika Czinano fouled out in 24 minutes, finishing with 19 points on 8-for-12 FG, seven rebounds, and three turnovers. Point guard Nia Clouden led Michigan State with 18 points on 6-for-15 from the field (1-2 3pt.), five rebounds, two steals, and three turnovers.

#10 Louisville: 80-66 win over Belmont. Allowed a season-high in points, despite forcing 18 turnovers and limiting the Bruins to 31.0% from deep on 29 attempts and just one free-throw. Shot 54.0% from the field and 50.0% from three (albeit on just 10 attempts). Combo guard Haley Van Lith scored a team-high 16 points on 7-for-15 shooting (1-3 3pt.) with five rebounds; wing Kianna Smith had 14 points on 6-for-10 from the field (2-3 3pt.). Four rebounds, and five assists against just one turnover; center Olivia Cochran notched a season-high 10 points on 4-for-7 FG and seven rebounds (five offensive) against four turnovers and three fouls in 23 minutes — the second-year player, consensus No. 15 recruit in her class, is now averaging 6.5 points on 46.9% true shooting (40th percentile among centers, per CBB Analytics) on 5.9 attempts per game, 5.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.9 stocks against 2.4 turnovers and 1.8 fouls in just 21.5 minutes, which is really not what you want. Belmont was led by point guard Destinee Wells’ game-high 19 points on 8-for-14 from the field and 3-for-7 from three, five rebounds, two steals, and career-high seven turnovers.

#11 Tennessee, RV* Virginia Tech: The Vols beat the Hokies 64-58. Virginia Tech had a 92.6% win expectancy with a 55-48 lead and possession with just under six minutes remaining. Over the next five minutes, the Hokies went 1-for-4 from the field while committing two turnovers and four unintentional fouls, while Tennessee shot 6-for-8 and committed no turnovers. The game was back-and-forth up until then, though! The Vols held Virginia Tech to just 34.5% shooting and had a +16 rebounding margin, though it made up for those by hitting 41.4% of its 29 threes.

Combo guard Jordan Walker led the Tennessee with a Vols-career-high 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting (4-4 3pt.), season-high seven rebounds, and a Vols-career-high-tying five assists; combo forward Sara Puckett — the consensus No. 40 freshman in the country — scored 15 points on 7-for-11 from the field — all career-highs — and 1-for-2 from three with three rebounds off the bench; center Tamari Key had 11 points on 5-for-8 FG, 12 rebounds (seven offensive), two steals, and five blocks against three fouls turnovers and fouls. The Hokies were led by combo guard Aisha Sheppard’s season-high 30 points on 9-for-21 from the field and 7-for-17 from three — all season-highs and two steals against three turnovers; point guard Georgia Amoore had 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting (2-4 3pt.), three assists, and six turnovers; center Elizabeth Kitely had four points on 1-for-12 FG (0-1 3pt.., 2-6 FT), nine rebounds, two assists, and two steals against three blocks, with solid defense.

#12 Michigan: 93-54 win over Akron. Won the first quarter 25-4. Forced 21 turnovers; shot 64.7% from the field, 6-for-10 from three, and 21-for-26 from the line. Five players reached double-figures, all in 28 minutes or fewer: center Emily Kiser, 19 points, 8-for-12 shooting (0-1 3pt.), with eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals against three turnovers; big Naz Hillmon, 18 points, 7-of-9 shooting, with five assists against three fouls; combo guard Michelle Sidor, 12 points, 5-of-8 shooting (2-4 ept.), with three assists against three fouls; wing Lalia Phelia, 11 points, 4-of-7 shooting; and wing Leigha Brown, 10 bench points, 2-of-2 shooting (6-6 FT), with three rebounds and two assists.

#14 Iowa State: 94-56 win over Longmont. Committed just six fouls; missed just one free-throw in 23 tries. Off-ball guard Aubrey Joens once again set a new career-high, this time with 24 points on 8-for-13 from the field and a nice 6-for-9 from three, with 14 rebounds for a double-double, two steals, and a lone turnovers in 34 minutes; wing Ashley Joens had a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double on 4-for-12 shooting (1-5 3pt., 7-7 FT) with two assists and two steals against five turnovers; center Beatriz Jordao scored 14 points on 4-for-8 FG (6-7 FG) and four blocks off the bench; point guard Emily Ryan and combo guard Lexi Donarski each added 13 points — Ryan on 4-of-7 from the field (4-4 FT) with five assists and four steals, Donarski on 6-for-13 from the field and 1-for-5 from three with six rebounds and three assists.

#15 Texas, #17 Texas A&M: The Longhorn beat the Aggies 76-60. Texas A&M jumped out to an 11-4 lead, to which Texas responded by reversing the score to 25-13 through the mid-second quarter. That’s a 21-2 run. So yeah, anyway, that was basically game right there. The Longhorns missed 10 free-throws, but committed only seven turnovers and shot 53.5% from three — to put it bluntly, allowing Texas to shoot 53.3% from three is as clear a sign your help defense sucks as anything. The Aggies attempted 14 fewer shots and 11 fewer free-throws, which is really funny in a dark kind of way. The Aggies started a Nixon-Pitts-Wells-Patty-Roby lineup, their seventh-most-used lineup coming into the matchup, to try to contend with Texas’ size and physicality.

Off-ball guard Aliyah Matharu led the Longhorns with 26 points on 10-for-17 from the field and 5-for-9 from three in 28 minutes without a turnover; point guard Rori Harmon scored 18 points on 5-for-11 shooting (1-2 3pt., 7-9 FT) with three rebounds, nine assists, and two turnovers in 33 bench minutes. Texas A&M was led by center Sydnee Roby’s 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting (6-8 FT) and three blocks against four turnovers and three fouls in 20 minutes; combo guard Destiny Pitts had 14 points on 5-for-13 from the field and 3-for-10 from three, five rebounds, and four turnovers and fouls; wing Kayla Wells scored 13 points on 4-for-8 FG against three turnovers while fouling out in 30 minutes.

Texas now leads the “rivalry” 63-24 all-time, and has won five of the past six.

#16 Kentucky: 90-56 win over Merrimack. Assisted on 30 of its 36 buckets. Wing Rhyne Howard scored a game-high 21 points on 7-for-13 shooting (0-4 3pt., 7-7 FT) with six rebounds, seve assists, and six steals against a lone turnover; big Dre’una Edwards had a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double on 7-for-13 FG with four offensive rebounds and three assists; point guard Jazmine Massengill notched a season-high 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting (3-4 3pt.), eight assists, three steals, and two blocks against two turnovers.

#18 Ohio State, RV Purdue: The Buckeyes beat the Boilermakers 70-53. The teams combined for 16 second-quarter points. Which — you’re Ohio State! You’ve got the 11th-best Her Hoop Stats offensive rating! If you can’t score against the 117th-best defense in the country, what are we even doing here? Anyway, the Buckeyes committed 22 turnovers and missed 10 free-throws, while Purdue shot an abhorrent 29.6% from the field and 16.7% from three on a team that just allowed Syracuse to score 97.

Wing Taylor Mikesell led Ohio State with her first double-double of the season, 16 points on 5-for-9 shooting (3-5 3pt.) and 10 rebounds, plus five assists against five turnovers; combo guard Braxtin Miller matched those 16 points, on 5-for-10 from the field (2-4 3pt., 4-7 FT), plus five rebounds, and two assists against three turnovers; big Rebeka Mikulášiková notched 13 points on a nice 6-for-9 FG (0-1 3pt.), eight rebounds, and three turnovers. 

#20 Georgia, RV Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets beat the Bulldogs 55-54. The teams shot a combined 36.4% in this match, with Georgia Tech’s 18 free-throw attempts making the difference (and they even missed half of them!). Combo guard Eylia Love tied a Yellow Jackets-high 14 points on 6-for-14 shooting (1-2 3pt.) with seven rebounds (four offensive), two assists, and three turnovers; center Nerea Hermosa also scored 14, on 4-for-10 FG (6-9 FT) to go with eight rebounds, two blocks, and three turnovers; big Lorela Cubaj notched an 11-point, 15-rebound double-double on 5-for-14 from the field (1-3 3pt.), plus four assists and two clocks; point guard Lotta-Maj Lahtinen returned to the lineup, and finished with seven points on 3-for-9 shooting (0-2 3pt.), four rebounds, three assists, and three steals against four turnovers. Georgia point guard Que Morrison had a game-high 15 points on 6-for-13 from the field (1-2 3pt.) with four rebounds (three offensive) and four assists against a lone turnover; the other Bulldog starters combined to shoot 9-for-33 with a 1:3 assist-to-turnover ratio, which is not good.

#25 Florida State: 83-32 win over Charleston Southern. Shot 39.7% from the field and 21.4% from the field; most of that came from the Noles’ reserves, however, as the main rotation shot 56.4% from the field and 33.3% from three — which goes to show why Florida State dropped off so mightily when players were hurt last week. Wing Morgan Jones had a game-high 16 points on 5-for-12 shooting (6-6 FT), eight rebounds (five offensive), and just one turnover in 16 minutes big Valencia Myers scored 15 points on 7-for-10 FG (1-2 3pt.) with four rebounds (two offensive) and two blocks in 16 minutes; center River Baldwin notched 13 points on 6-for-8 from the field and four rebounds (two offensive) in 15 minutes; point guard Bianca Jackson returned to the lineup, scoring 4 points on 2-for-6 FG (0-2 3pt.) with four assist, two steals, and no turnovers in 14 minutes.

Presented for your viewing pleasure:

The Buccaneers’ final non-conference opponent, in two week? Duke.

Good luck!

RV Duke: 77-55 win over Penn. Outscored the Quakers in the first quarter 22-5. Shot 49.2% from the field and 33.3% from three despite seeing extensive zone coverage for the first time in a regulation game. Committed 15 turnovers, fewest since Nov. 14 against UNC-Wilmington. Point guard Shayeann Day-Wilson scored a team-high 14 points on 5-for-8 from the field and 4-for-6 from three with three rebounds and three assists against three turnovers in 25 bench minutes; big wing Elizabeth Balogun had a season-high 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting (1-2 3pt.), four rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two turnovers; off-ball guard Celeste Taylor finished with eight points on 3-for-7 FG (0-3 3pt.), nine rebounds, two assists, and two steals against four turnovers; point guard Vanessa de Jesus notched four points on 2-for-5 from the field, four rebounds, five assists, and two turnovers in 19 minutes.

RV DePaul: 103-85 win over Xavier. The game was neck-and-neck through the early second quarter, before the Blue Demons won the middle half by 15 points. Shot 37.8% from three on 37 attempts. Freshman big Aneesah Morrow had a double-double with 24 points on 10-for-17 shooting (1-2 3pt.) and a career-high 19 rebounds (career-high 10 offensive), four steals, and two blocks; wing Darrione Rogers scored 21 points on 6-for-7 from three — all season-highs — six rebounds, and a career-high-tying five assists without a turnover; off-ball guard Deja Church notched 21 points in 21 minutes on 7-for-18 from the field (2-5 3pt.), six rebounds (three offensive), four assists, and two steals with no turnovers.

RV Arkansas: 84-67 win over Cal. Point guard Makayla Daniels scored a career-high 32 points on 11-for-15 from the field and 4-for-6 from three (6-6 FT) with three turnovers in 32 minutes.

RV UCLA: 112-33 win over San Jose State. Incredibly, this game was tied halfway through the first quarter. And then the Bruins outscored the Spartans in the second quarter 27-0. Yeah. Big IImar’I Thomas scored 32 points on 15-for-19 shooting with nine rebounds (seven offensive) — all season-highs — two assists, and two steals with just one turnover and foul in 32 minutes; off-ball guard Natalie Chou had a double-double with 31 points on 11-for-16 from the field and 6-for-9 from three with 11 assists — all career-highs — plus a season-high six rebounds, two steals, and two blocks; wing Jaelynn Penn notched 20 points on 7-for-11 FG (3-4 3pt.), eight rebounds (three offensive), and three assists against two turnovers in 25 minutes.

Fordham: 76-67 win over Princeton in a premier mid-major matchup. And talk about a game of runs: Fordham was +7 in the first quarter, -5 in the second, +12 in the third, and -5 in the fourth. Combo guard Anna DeWolfe led the Rams with a game-high 28 points on 10-for-17 from the field and 3-for-7 from three, three assists, and three steals against three turnovers; point guard Kendall Heremaia scored 14 points on 4-for-10 shooting (0-4 3pt., 6-6 FT), plus seven rebounds and three assists against two turnovers and three fouls; big Kaitlyn Downey added 10 points on 4-for-7 FG (2-4 3pt.), seven rebounds, five assists, two steals, and three blocks against two turnovers. The Tigers were led by wing Abby Meyers’ 22 points on 8-for-21 from the field and 6-for-13 from three, seven rebounds (six offensive), and six turnovers.

Syracuse: 116-65 win over Central Connecticut, a new single-game program record for points. Like UCLA, tied at the mid-first quarter, and then suddenly… not, thanks to a 37-16 Orange second quarter. Combo guard Teisha Hyman came just two rebounds shy of a quadruple-double, with 27 points on 10-for-12 shooting (2-2 3pt.), eight rebounds (five offensive), a career-high 15 assists, and a career-high 11 steals, against three fouls in 37 minutes; point guard Chrislyn Carr scored 22 points on 9-for-14 from the field and 3-for-5 from thee with three assists against two turnovers and three fouls.

Navy: 66-61 loss to Maryland-Eastern Shore. Point guard Jennifer Coleman finished three steals and three turnovers shy of a quadruple-double herself, with 30 points on 9-for-19 from the field (4-5 3pt., 8-10 FT), 14 rebounds (seven offensive), seven steals, and seven turnovers with three assists.

*Receiving Votes

^Consensus rankings are drawn from an aggregation of ESPN, Blue Star, Prep Girls, ASGR, and Prospects Nation