Daily Briefing, Nov. 18, 2021: South Carolina romps

(All times in Eastern)

Watch List, Thursday, Nov. 18

Must-watch

Stephen F. Austin @ #24 Texas A&M, 8 p.m., SEC Network+

Good games

#14 Iowa State @ Drake, 7 p.m., ESPN+

Also watchable

Fordham @ Notre Dame, 7 p.m., ACC Network Extra

Sickos games

None

Pac-12 or Big 10 on national television

None

Wednesday, Nov. 17 recap

#1 South Carolina: 76-45 win over Clemson. The Tigers trailed by one after the first quarter, then got outscored 12-3 in the second en route to the 31-point final margin. Gamecock point guard Destanni Henderson scored a game-high 16 points on 5-10 from the field (3-5 3pt.), with five rebounds, six assists, and four turnovers; wing Brea Beal had eight points on 3-5 shooting (2-3 3pt.), three assists, and two steals; center Aliyah Boston went 1-2 from three as part of her 11 points in 17 minutes; big Laeticia Amihere had 10 points on 3-7 FG (4-7) off the bench, plus six rebounds and two blocks. Clemson was led by off-ball guard Gabby Elliott’s 11 points off the bench on 4-9 shooting (3-3 3pt.).

#8 Iowa: 87-67 win over Southern. Went 15-16 from the line in just the first quarter as part of a 33-point period. Point guard Caitlin Clark had her second career triple-double, with 16 points (2-9 FG, 1-6 3pt., 11-12 FT), 10 rebounds, and 10 assists, plus three steals against six turnovers; center Monika Czinano tied that game-high of 16 points, on 6-8 from the field, with seven rebounds; wing McKenna Warnock had a double-double with 15 points (5-8 FG, 2-3 3pt.) and 11 rebounds, against three turnovers; off-ball guard Tomi Taiwo scored 12 points on 4-7 shooting (2-3 3pt.) off the bench. Combo guard Genovea Johnson led the Jaguars with 19 points on 6-12 shooting (7-9) FT and three steals against three turnovers off the bench.

#10 Louisville: 62-30 win over UT-Martin. Allowed just one double-digit-scoring quarter for the second-straight game. Big wing Emily Engstler once again led the team in scoring, notching 20 points on 7-9 from the field (4-4 3pt.) and two steals; wing Kianna Smith was the lone other Cardinal both to reach double-figures and shoot better than 50% from the field, with 10 points on 4-7 FG (2-3 3pt.), four rebounds, and three assists.

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#12 Texas: 88-47 win over Southeast Missouri. Starting center Aaliyah Moore left with an injury in the first half; wing Joanne Allen-Taylor scored a game-high 13 points on 5-13 shooting (0-2 3pt.) with three steals; center Lauren Ebo recorded an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double on 5-5 FG with five of her rebounds offensive, joining the starting lineup as big DeYona Gaston slid to the bench; point guard Rori Harmon and off-ball guard Aliyah Matharu combined for 22 points on 10-19 from the field, 10 rebounds, and four steals.

#15 Oregon State: 80-72 win over Cal Baptist. The Lancers, who went 24-0 in the 2020-21 regular season with only two games decided by fewer than nine points, finished last year 26-1 with their only loss to the eventual-NIT-champion Rice Owls. They would’ve had a decent seed in March, but were ineligible as part of a transition timeline up from DII. That is all to say: Cal Baptist didn’t just give the Beavers a run for their money — it led by six at halftime, and outscored Oregon St. by 14 in the three quarters it won. Problem was, it lost the third by 22.

Point guard Talia von Oelhoffen led the Beavers with 18 points on 6-16 shooting (2-6 3pt.) and two steals against four turnovers; center Taylor Jones added 17 points on 7-10 from the field (3-7 FT) with seven rebounds (four offensive); wing Greta Kampschroeder notched 10 points on 5-10 FG (3-5 3pt.) and seven rebounds against three turnovers off the bench. The Lancers were led by big Caitlyn Harper’s game-high 23 points on 9-14 from the field (3-4 3pt.), with five rebounds and two steals; off-ball guard Georgia Dale and wing Sydney Palma combined for 24 points on 9-16 shooting (6-12 3pt.) and a lone turnover, with Dale adding nine rebounds and five assists; point guard Ane Olaeta scored 11 points on 5-20 FG (1-8 3pt.) with seven assists against four turnovers.

#18 Georgia Tech: 65-42 win over East Tennessee State. Held the Bucs to five and six points in the second and fourth quarters, respectively. Center Nerea Hermosa had a double-double on a game-high 17 points (6-13 FG) and 10 rebounds; big Lorela Cubaj scored 12 points on 4-11 shooting with nine rebounds, five assists, three steals, and two blocks; senior off-ball guard Sarah Bates started in place of Loyal McQueen, after the sophomore point guard — the consensus* No. 59 recruit in the class of 2020 — entered the transfer portal, and shot 2-4 from three.

#21 Ohio State: 94-63 win over Bowling Green. Big Rebeka Mikulášiková matched Monday’s career-high of 19 points on 8-13 shooting against, plus five rebounds; Oregon transfer wing Taylor Mikesell matched Mikulášiková’s 19 points, on 6-10 from the field (4-6 3pt.); off-ball guard Jacy Sheldon had 17 points on 8-11 FG with three turnovers.

#25 Virginia Tech: 85-32 win over Coppin State. Did not allow a point over the last 7:45, while holding the Eagles to 19.6% from the field and 13.3% from three throughout the game. Hokie combo guard Aisha Sheppard led with 17 points on 6-12 shooting (4-7 3pt.) and six rebounds; center Elizabeth Kitley notched a double-double with 13 points and rebounds each, on 6-10 from the field and with six of her rebounds offensive, plus four blocks; combo guard Georgia Amoore had 10 points on 4-12 FG (2-7 3pt.), eight assists, and four turnovers; Purdue transfer point guard Kayana Traylor scored 15 points off the bench on 6-7 shooting (3-4 3pt.).

RV (Received Votes) Missouri State: 44-40 loss to Oklahoma State. Had a 94.9% win expectancy with a 17-point lead just a couple minutes before halftime. Proceeded to score all of two points in the third quarter. The teams combined to shoot 25.0% from the field, 11.8% from three, and 58.3% from the line. Yuck. Just about the only efficient player on either team was Cowgirl big Taylen Collins, who scored 16 points — the only double-digit effort on either roster — on 8-13 shooting with 11 rebounds for a double-double, plus two blocks against four turnovers.

Blown Leads

Houston: 69-66 overtime loss to UT-Arlington. Had a 90.6% win expectancy with a one-score lead and ten seconds on the clock, then committed a shooting foul to allow the Mavericks to tie it at the line, before losing in overtime. Point guard Terryn Milton scored a career-high 26 points on 8-14 shooting (10-12 FT) for UT-Arlington, plus four rebounds, three assists, and three steals.

UMBC: 63-57 loss to Loyola (MD). Had a 91.8% win expectancy with a 14-point lead at 7:20 in the third quarter. Were a -20 from then on out.

Xavier: 77-73 loss to Miami (OH). Had a 94.0% win expectancy with a five-point lead and just over two minutes to go, after outsourcing the Redhawks by 13 over the prior nine minutes to come back from down eight. Proceeded to turn the ball over three-straight times while Miami (OH) scored 11 unanswered. Point guard Peyton Scott led the Redhawks with 28 points on 10-15 from the field (4-5 3pt.), seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals against three turnovers. The teams combined for 50 fouls and 41 turnovers.

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