Daily Briefing — Jan. 8, 2022: Hull-abaloo at Stanford

But first, some housekeeping: Our intrepid Mercury reporter, Alex Simon — the man who brought you reporting on Diana Taurasi‘s crimes against an incident door, then-Phoenix head coach Sandy Brondello‘s mountain party house, the Mercury getting bounced out of their stadium in the playoffs due to Disney on Ice, and so much more — is moving on from our abode, becoming an editor and digital strategist on the sports desk at Bay Area News Group. He gets to be much closer to home, where he can enjoy watching his beloved San Francisco Giants continue to blow saves up close and personal. To say he’ll be dearly missed would be an understatement.

W Roundup

The Athletes Unlimited basketball league, AU Hoops, finally released details on its operations and scheduling. Basically, teams will play a few times a week in January and February, changing the teams every week, pick-up style. Our Tee Baker breaks it down in more detail and gives you the schedule.

Dallas: Waived Luisa Geiselsöder, per Rachel Galligan, as expected. The Wings now sit with 12 rostered players, four draft picks and over $78,000 in cap room in a league with a 12-player roster limit.

Las Vegas: Extended qualifying offers to bigs A’ja Wilson and JiSu Park, per Galligan.

New York: Finally officially announced that former Mercury head coach Sandy Brondello will fill the same position with the Liberty. The press conference followed midday yesterday.

Phoenix: Former Mercury beat reporter Jeff Metcalfe, currently a Pac-12 beat reporter for The Mercury News (no relation to the WNBA team), reported that current New Orleans Pelicans assistant and former Liberty star Teresa Weatherspoon could be a finalist for the opening at head coach. Khristina Williams of Girls Talk Sports TV added that Phoenix assistant Julie Hairgrove has interviewed for the job as well.

(All times in Eastern)

Watch List, Saturday, Jan. 8

Must-watch

South Dakota State @ South Dakota, 2 p.m., ESPN+

Good games

Kent State @ Buffalo, 1 p.m., ESPN+

Kansas State @ West Virginia, 4 p.m., ESPN+

Also watchable

Troy @ UT-Arlington, 3 p.m., ESPN+

Sickos games

Southern @ Florida A&M, 2 p.m., Facebook?

St. Bonaventure @ Duquesne, 2 p.m., ESPN+

Friday, Jan. 7 recap

#2 Stanford: 80-68 win over Oregon. Entered the fourth quarter up 16 and allowed the Ducks to close within six with less than three minutes to go, in what’s becoming a trend of sloppy finishes for the Cardinal. Shot 56.9% from the field and 57.1% from three while holding Oregon to 36.4% shooting overall; committed 18 turnovers, eight in the fourth quarter; the Ducks notched 11 steals. Wing Lexie Hull scored a career-high 33 points on 13-for-22 shooting from the field and 7-for-10 from three with two assists against six turnovers without ever sitting; point wing Haley Jones had 12 points on 3-for-5 FG (0-1 3pt., 6-6 FT), seven rebounds and four assists against three turnovers; off-ball guard Hannah Jump tallied 11 points on 3-for-8 shooting from three (1-2 from two), two assists and two turnovers; center Cameron Brink notched five points on 2-for-5 FG, six rebounds, two assists, three steals and five blocks against two turnovers and four fouls in 26 minutes — the first-ever 5/6/2/3/5 game with two turnovers and four fouls in as few minutes in the HHS era.

Oregon point guard Endyia Rogers had 22 points on 8-for-15 shooting (3-3 3pt.), four rebounds, two assists and three steals against two turnovers in 22 minutes in her second game back from a broken hand; point guard Te-Hina Paopao played 14 minutes, finishing with 14 points on 4-for-18 shooting from the field and 1-for-7 from three without an assist plus three turnovers in her first game since Nov. 14 because of a knee injury; big Nyara Sabally tallied 19 points on 7-for-15 FG, eight rebounds and four steals against six turnovers and four fouls in 19 minutes.

TDB Cameron Brink Foul Watch: Four fouls in 26 minutes today; 5.3 fouls per 40 minutes (12th percentile, per Her Hoop Stats), 6.3% foul percentage (12th percentile) for the season.

#4 Arizona: 60-52 win over Washington State. Trailed in the mid-third quarter, but a 15-0 run starting a couple minutes later helped erase that. Was out-rebounded by six, only recording two offensive boards, but forced 18 turnovers and 18 fouls; assisted on 13 of its 19 buckets. Big Cate Reese led with a game-high 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting from the field (0-2 3pt., 4-7 FT), seven rebounds and three steals against four fouls; off-ball guard Helena Pueyo scored 12 points on 3-for-4 shooting from three (0-1 from two) with three rebounds, two assists and two turnovers; wing Sam Thomas notched eight points on 2-for-7 shooting (1-4 3pt.), six rebounds and eight assists against two turnovers.

RV* Colorado: 71-58 win over USC. Shot an ugly 34.7% from the field, 26.3% from three and 61.5% from the line but forced 19 turnovers and drew 20 fouls; notched 14 steals. Combo forward Mya Hollingshed had a game-high 18 points on 6-for-16 shooting (6-7 FT), eight rebounds (three offensive) and four steals against two turnovers; bench center Quay Miller had a double-double with 13 points on 5-for-15 FG (0-1 3pt., 3-7 FT) and 10 rebounds (four offensive) with three blocks. Point guard Jaylyn Sherrod and wing Frida Formann combined for 30 points on 9-for-23 shooting from the field and 5-for-12 from three, with Sherrod having six rebounds, eight assists and two steals and Formann contributing three assists against two turnovers.

RV DePaul: 98-77 win over Providence. Out-rebounded the Friars by 11; notched 14 steals, part of 22 turnovers forced. Off-ball guard Deja Church led with 20 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the field and 3-for-5 from three (5-6 FT), six rebounds, three assists and three steals; off-ball guard Sonya Morris had 19 points on 9-for-17 shooting (1-4 3pt.), seven rebounds, three assists and four steals; big Aneesah Morrow notched a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double on 7-for-17 FG (0-1 3pt.) with six offensive boards and two assists against four fouls in 19 minutes; point guard Lexi Held tallied 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting (3-6 3pt.), eight assists and three steals against three turnovers.

Loyola Chicago: 63-46 win over Drake, a big upset in the MVC — the Bulldogs, a perennial contender for an NCAA Tournament berth, were picked to finish second in the conference, while the Ramblers were projected to finish seventh. Drake entered halftime up 23-14 before Loyola took the second half 49-23!

Drexel: 61-60 win over Charleston. Combo guard Keishana Washington scored a season-high 33 points on 14-for-32 shooting from the field and 1-for-9 from three.

Harvard: 89-58 win over Brown. The alma mater of our Washington Mystics and Ivy League reporter, Jenn Hatfield — who is a very impartial observer, for the record — rode a 34-15 first quarter to the blowout victory on her birthday. Everyone wish Jenn a happy belated birthday!

Blown leads

Northern Iowa: 60-58 loss to Valparaiso. Had a 98.2% win expectancy with a 13-point lead less than a minute into the fourth quarter, and still had a 97.1% expectancy with an eight-point lead and possession with just over four minutes to go. Proceeded to shoot 0-for-5 from the field while allowing the Beacons to shoot 4-for-5, including two and-ones.

Cancellations

• #11 UConn vs. Villanova
• RV Missouri State vs. Southern Illinois
• UCLA @ Utah
• Oregon State @ Cal
• Seton Hall vs. Butler
• Arizona State vs. Washington
• Cornell vs. Penn
• Yale vs. Dartmouth
• St. John’s vs. Xavier
• Columbia vs. Princeton
• Wright State vs. Youngstown State
• Northern Kentucky vs. Robert Morris
• UNC-Wilmington vs. Delaware

*Receiving Votes