Daily Briefing — Dec. 12, 2021: Ayoka Lee scores 38 and a pair of games not played

(All times in Eastern)

Watch List, Sunday, Dec. 12

Must-watch

#14 Kentucky @ #7 Louisville, 1 p.m., ESPN

#8 Maryland @ #1 South Carolina, 3 p.m., ESPN

Good games

#10 Indiana @ #20 Ohio State, 7 p.m., BTN

Also watchable

#17 USF @ VCU, 1 p.m., ESPN+

Florida State @ Florida, 1 p.m., SECN

Sickos games

Marshall @ St. Bonaventure, 12 p.m., ESPN+ 

Howard @ George Washington, 2 p.m., ESPN+

Lafayette @ Fordham, 2 p.m., ESPN+ 

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

See Must-watch and Good games 

Saturday, Dec. 11 recap

#3 UConn: 71-61 win over RV* UCLA. UConn shot 41.0% from the floor while only allowing UCLA to shoot 25.8% from three and 32.9% overall. Evina Westbrook led the Huskies with 17 points and added seven rebounds, seven assists and one steal. Charisma Osborne led the Bruins with 26 points and added six rebounds, one assist, two steals and one block. With the win, UConn avoided losing back-to-back games for the first time since 1993.

#11 Texas: 83-43 win over Idaho. DeYona Gaston led Texas with 19 points and added seven rebounds and two steals. The Longhorns were able to cruise to victory despite shooting 4-17 from behind the arc. 

Providence: 68-50 win over Quinnipiac. The Friars shot 43.5% from the floor and 40.0% from three while holding the Bobcats to just 35.1% shooting from the floor and 18.2% from three. Janai Crooms led Providence with 24 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, one steal and one block. Providence also outscored Quinnipiac 40-20 in the paint.  

St John’s: 83-70 win over La Salle. The Red Storm won their second game in a row behind 25 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals from Leilani Correa. Danielle Patterson added 14 points and a career-high 17 rebounds. Both teams shot above 40% from the floor, but La Salle took just 11 free throws to St. John’s’ 21. 

UMass: 87-75 win over Columbia. Six Minutewomen scored in double figures, led by Sam Breen and Sydney Taylor, who both scored 19 points. Angelique Ngalakulondi also had 13 points and a team- and career-high 14 rebounds. While UMass controlled most of the game, Columbia’s Abbey Hsu led all scorers with 24 points, including six of her team’s nine made threes. (Editor’s note: Hsu also had 19 of her team’s 21 points in the third quarter, which has to be some kind of record.)

Saint Joseph’s: 73-63 win over Temple. The Hawks shot 48.1% from the floor and 52.9% from three while holding the Owls to just 27.8% shooting from three. The Hawks’ Katie Jekot finished with a career-high 25 points while adding six rebounds, five assists and six steals. Temple’s Jasha Clinton scored 24 points on 10-15 shooting from the floor, with four of her five misses coming from behind the arc. 

Kansas State: 79-73 win over South Dakota State. Ayoka Lee led the Wildcats with 38 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks to help her team complete a fourth-quarter comeback over the Jackrabbits. Kansas State outscored South Dakota State in the paint 44-24. The Jackrabbits had 32 points off the bench, including 13 from Myah Selland and 11 from Haley Greer.

Georgia Southern: 121-105 win over Gardner-Webb. Yes, you read that score correctly. It’s the second time the Eagles have scored 100+ points this season after also doing so in a win over San Diego Christian on Nov. 22. Georgia Southern hit 14 threes and was led by Mya Burns, who had 24 points and four rebounds. The team’s 121 points is the second-most by a Division I team against another Division I opponent this season (Texas put up 131 against New Orleans on Nov. 9). In the losing effort, Gardner-Webb’s Jhessyka Williams had 38 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and three steals. Lauren Bevis added 33 points on 10-13 shooting (all three misses came from behind the arc) as well as four rebounds, one assist and four steals.

UMass Lowell, Yale: Game postponed due to “health and safety protocols,” according to a Yale press release. A new date has not been determined.

New Hampshire, Boston College: Game canceled. According to a Boston College press release, although both teams were medically cleared, New Hampshire declined to play. The game was recorded as a no contest, per NCAA rules.

*Receiving Votes