Daily Briefing — Feb. 13, 2022: Big upsets in the Big 12

W Roundup

Free agency

• Kalani Brown: Khristina Williams of Girls Talk Sports TV reports the AU standout has garnered interest from Las Vegas, who does in fact need another center.
• Leaonna Odom: Signed a one-year minimum contract with Phoenix, per Khristina Williams of Girls Talk Sports TV. Our Liberty reporter, Jackie Powell, adds that the former New York combo forward had an offer from Atlanta as well.
• Courtney Vandersloot: Has agreed to a one-year to return to Chicago, per ESPN’s Mechelle Voepel, making the Sky significant favorites to repeat as WNBA champions. Many people will tell you “no team has repeated since the Sparks in 2002!” and they will be misleading you, because no team has won a title and then immediately improved its roster at two key spots, which Chicago has. Scary hours.

Visit our offseason trackers page to see all the other free agent moves, how they affect team’s caps, and more — in neat, colorful fashion!

(All times in Eastern)

Watch List, Sunday, Feb. 13

Must-watch

#18 Notre Dame @ #3 Louisville, 2 p.m., ESPN

Good games

#1 South Carolina @ #17 Georgia, Noon, ESPN2

USC @ South Florida, 2 p.m., ESPN2

Oregon State @ #24 Oregon, 4 p.m., Pac-12 Network

Also watchable

Arkansas @ Mizzou, 3 p.m., SEC Network+

Sickos games

Virginia @ Wake Forest, 4 p.m., ACC Network

Saturday, Feb. 12 recap

#7 Indiana: 76-58 win over Michigan State. Won the third quarter 30-14. Shot 43.6% from the field, 35.0% from three, and 21-for-27 at the line; drew 19 fouls. Point guard Grace Berger scored a career-high 29 points on 9-for-17 from the field (0-1 3pt.) and 11-for-11 from the line with seven rebounds and three assists without a turnover; big Aleksa Gulbe had 13 points on 4-for-11 shooting (2-6 3pt., 3-7 FT), six rebounds, and three blocks against two turnovers; combo guard Ali Patberg notched 12 points on 4-for-9 FG (0-2 3pt.), six rebounds, and three assists without a turnover or foul; combo guard Nicole Cardaño-Hillary tallied 12 points on 4-for-9 from field and 3-for-6 from three, four rebounds, two assists, and two steals against three fouls; big wing Chloe Moore McNeil notched 10 points on 3-for-7 shooting (2-4 3pt.) off the bench; center Kiandra Browne fouled-out in 30 minutes without scoring — since taking over for the injured Mackenzie Holmes, Browne has committed at least three fouls in the five games she’s played at least 20 minutes (and once when she hasn’t!), has scored fewer than five points five times, and Indiana is being out-rebounded by 7.6 boards per 100 possessions with her on the court.

#9 Iowa State: 93-70 win over TCU. They were tied through the mid-second quarter. Shot 56.5% from the field and 52.8% from three; allowed 43.3% shooting and 33.3% from deep to a team that had shot 37.7% and 27.9%, respectively; out-rebounded the Horned Frogs by 18; only forced five turnovers. Wing Ashley Joens led with a season-high 32 points on 13-for-21 from the field and 6-for-12 from three and 14 rebounds for a double-double, plus two assists and to turnovers; point guard Emily Ryan notched a 14-point, 17-assist double-double on 4-for-6 from three (1-3 from two) with three rebounds and two blocks against five turnovers; combo guard Lexi Donarski had 16 points on 6-for-13 shooting (4-8 3pt.) and four rebounds; center Morgan Kane scored 13 points on 5-for-6 FG (1-1 3pt.) with four offensive boards and two turnovers; off-ball guard Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw tallied 11 points on 3-for-5 from three (1-1 from two) and four rebounds.

#10 Baylor: 75-57 win over West Virginia. Shot only 23.5% from three and missed nine free-throws, but held the Mountaineers to 32.4%/25.0%/58.5% shooting splits; had 20 assists on its 27 buckets; were out-rebounded by 12, but forced 17 turnovers and 24 fouls. Big NaLyssa Smith led with a 30-point, 12-rebound double-double on 10-for-19 from the field (1-1 3pt.) and 9-for-11 from the line, plus two assists and two blocks without a turnover; point guard Jordan Lewis had 18 points on 5-for-9 shooting (3-4 3pt., 5-6 FT), five rebounds, and six assists against two turnovers; center Queen Egbo notched a double-double in 27 minutes with 13 points on 6-for-12 FG (1-7 FT) and 12 rebounds, plus two assets and two blocks against two turnovers; combo guard Sarah Andrews and off-ball guard Ja’Mee Asberry combined for 10 points on 4-for-19 from the field and 0-for-8 from three, with Andrews adding five rebounds and seven assists.

#12 Oklahoma, #16 Texas: The Longhorns beat the Sooners 78-63. The teams combined to shoot 46.4% from the field and 27.6% from three — the latter mainly being Oklahoma’s contribution, of course; Texas had a +22 rebounding margin, including 23 offensive boards; the teams each notched 11 steals, part of 41 total turnovers; the teams combined for 40 fouls.

Wing Joanne Allen-Taylor led the Longhorns with 14 points on 6-for-14 shooting (0-2 3pt.), three rebounds, two assists, and two steals against two turnovers; center Lauren Ebo notched a double-double with 13 points on 3-for-6 from the field and 7-for-10 from the line and 14 rebounds (nine offensive) against three turnovers; off-ball guard Shay Holle committed four fouls in 26 minutes, finishing with 10 points on 5-for-7 FG, three steals, and two turnovers; point guard Rori Harmon also had four fouls in 29 minutes, finishing with six points on 3-for-9 shooting (0-2 3pt.), three rebounds, three assists, and three turnovers. The Sooners were led by wing Madi Williams’ 16 points on 6-for-12 from the field (1-5 3pt.), five rebounds, two assists, and two steals against six turnovers and four fouls in 32 minutes; big Liz Scott continued her stranglehold atop the Power 5 personal fouls leaderboard, fouling out in 16 minutes — only North Carolina’s Destiny Adams commits more fouls per 40 minutes (among qualified players, per Her Hoop Stats).

#22 FGCU: 58-55 loss to Stetson. They lost the fourth quarter 18-9. Shot just 29.9% from the field and 15.9% from three; notched 11 steals, part of 18 forced turnovers; the teams each committed 17 fouls. Point guard Tishara Morehouse led with 12 points on just 4-for-15 from the field, 1-for-8 from three, and 3-for-7 from the line, three rebounds, two assists, and four steals; off-ball guard Kendall Spray had 12 points off the bench on 4-for-10 from the field and 2-for-8 from three, four rebounds, and two steals without a turnover.

RV* Kansas State: 63-51 loss to Kansas, who the Wildcats beat by eight less than a month ago. Shot a poor 32.8% from the field and a dismal 1-for-22 from three; were out-rebounded by 17; only committed nine turnovers. Center Ayoka Lee led with an 18-point, 13-rebound double-double on 7-for-16 FG with three steals and two blocks; point guard Serena Sundell had 10 points on 3-for-10 shooting (0-4 3pt.), four assists, and three steals against two turnovers and four unintentional fouls.

RV Nebraska: 82-63 win over Illinois. They were a +12 in rebounding margin; forced 16 turnovers. Combo guard Jaz Shelley led with 21 points on 8-for-17 from the field and 5-for-13 from three, six rebounds, two assists, and two steals against four turnovers; combo forward Isabelle Bourne had 17 points on 5-for-12 shooting (2-5 3pt.), seven rebounds, and two assists; backup big Bella Cravens notched a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double on 4-for-5 FG with three assists; point guard Sam Haiby tallied 10 points on 4-for-9 from the field (1-4 3pt.), eight rebounds (four offensive), five assists, and two steals.

Temple: 73-58 win over Tulsa. Point guard Aniya Gourdine recorded her second triple-double in week — both of the Owls’ first two trip-dubs — with 11 points on 4-for-13 shooting (1-5 3pt.), 15 rebounds, and 10 assists, plus two steals against four turnovers.

Blown leads

UMBC: 70-68 loss to UMass-Lowell. They peaked at a 97.7% win expectancy with a 12-point lead and 7.5 minutes to go, then committed seven turnovers and five fouls while shooting 1-for-9 to force itself to intentionally foul.

Penn: 87-78 overtime win over Harvard. They had a 99.7% win expectancy with an eight-point lead and 1:15 remaining. Then committed two unintentional fouls, allowed Harvard to shoot 3-for-4 from three and missed two of its six intentional free-throws and a layup as regulation ended.

Indiana State: 58-56 loss to Evansville. Peaked at an 18-point lead near the close of the third quarter, and still had a 99.1% win expectancy while leading by 13 with less than seven minutes to go. However, they committed four turnovers and two fouls while missing all six of its attempts over the next six-plus minutes.

Cancellations

• Montana vs. Portland State

*Receiving Votes