Daily Briefing — Dec. 17, 2021: How ’bout them Dawgs?

(All times in Eastern)

W Roundup

Phoenix: Chasity Melvin, who joined the Mercury staff as an assistant in 2021, is being interviewed for their head coach opening, per Khristina Williams of Girls Talk Sports TV.

Watch List, Friday, Dec. 17

Must-watch

None

Good games

None

Also watchable

SMU @ Colorado, 8 p.m., Pac-12 Network

Sickos games

Hartford @ Central Connecticut, 7 p.m., NEC Front Row

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

#4 Arizona @ Northern Arizona, 6 p.m., ESPN+

Thursday, Dec. 16 recap

#2 N.C. State, #17 Georgia: The Bulldogs beat the Wolfpack 82-80 in overtime, N.C. State’s first loss to someone other than No. 1 South Carolina. After an even first quarter, Georgia took the second quarter 20-8, which the Wolfpack answered with a +13 third-quarter, before Bulldog wing Sarah Ashlee Barker forced overtime on a 26-foot pull-up leaner as regulation expired. The teams combined to shoot 41.7% from three while missing six free-throws apiece. Georgia committed 20 turnovers.

Center Jenna Staiti led the Bulldogs with a 21-point, 11-rebound double-double on 8-for-14 from the field and 3-for-7 from three with two assists and six blocks — season-highs in points and blocks — against a lone turnover; point guard Que Morrison had a season-high-tying 20 points on 5-for-15 shooting (1-4 3pt., 9-12 FT), six rebounds, six assists, and a season-high five steals against three turnovers; Barker finished with 16 points on 6-for-15 from the field and 4-for-7 from three, a season-high eight rebounds (four offensive), two assists, and three turnovers; big Jillian Hollingshead notched a season-high-tying nine points off the bench on a perfect 4-for-4 FG. N.C. State was led by center Elissa Cunane’s season-high-tying 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting (4-7 FT), five rebounds, and three turnovers; point guard Diamond Johnson came off the bench and finished with 17 points on 7-for-12 FG (3-3 3pt.), four rebounds, and four turnovers; wing Kayla Jones notched nine points on 3-for-12 from the field and 1-for-6 from three, 11 rebounds, a season-high-tying four assists, and a season-high three steals without a turnover or foul; point guard Raina Perez tallied 13 points on 3-for-5 from three and 2-for-3 from two, three steals, and three fouls.

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#6 Louisville: 82-38 win over Eastern Kentucky. Shot 50.8% from the field and 40.7% from three; notched 15 steals. Wing Kianna Smith led with a game-high 22 points on 8-for-11 from the field and 5-for-7 from three without a turnover in 22 minutes; big wing Emily Engstler had an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double on 5-for-10 shooting (1-3 3pt.), two assists, and six steals against three turnovers; combo guard Hailey Van Lith came off the bench, for some reason, and finished with 13 points on 6-for-12 FG (0-4 3pt.), three rebounds, two assists, and three turnovers; off-ball guard Payton Verhulst set career-highs with 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting (2-3 3pt.), seven rebounds, and two blocks, plus two steals in 18 minutes.

RV* DePaul: 103-71 win over Northern Illinois. Sixth-straight game scoring at least 90 points. Shot 40.0% from three on 45 attempts; rebounded over half its own misses; assisted on 33 of its 42 buckets; first 100-attempt game in over three years. Big Aneesah Morrow notched a double-double with 16 points on 8-for-18 FG (0-2 3pt.) and 15 rebounds (nine offensive) with two steals and a lone turnover in 21 minutes; off-ball guard Deja Church had 18 points on 8-for-16 shooting (2-3 3pt.), seven rebounds (three offensive), two assists, two steals, and two blocks; wing Darrione Rogers scored 20 points on 8-for-14 from the field and 4-for-8 from three with three rebounds and assists; point guard Lexi Held tallied 14 points on 5-for-12 from the field and 4-for-9 from three, three rebounds, seven assists, and two steals against three turnovers; off-ball guard Dee Bekelja notched 15 points on 5-for-8 from three (0-3 from two), nine rebounds (four offensive), and three assists against one turnover.

Rice: 74-64 win over Sam Houston. Center Ashlee Austin scored a career-high 30 points on 11-for-17 from the field and 8-for-10 from the line (0-2 3pt.) with eight rebounds (four offensive), four steals, and a lone turnover in 30 minutes.

South Dakota: 73-71 win over Creighton. Held a lead for a noncontinuous total of 34 seconds.

Florida State: 78-68 loss to Houston, though without starting point guard Bianca Jackson. Were a -7 in the fourth quarter. Allowed 40.0% overall shooting and 50.0% from three. Had a -6 turnover margin and allowed 16 free-throw attempts. Florida State is now 1-3 without Jackson, though its best win with her was single-digits over Illinois.

Dartmouth: 62-39 win over North Texas. The Big Green were one of three teams to start the season 0-10 (also Butler and Long Island).

RV UCLA: Did not play its scheduled game against Texas Southern “due to COVID-19 protocols” — i.e. positive case(s) within the program — as announced a half-hour before tipoff.

Chicago State: Did not play its scheduled game against Green Bay “due to health and safety protocols within the program” — i.e. positive case(s) — as announced Wednesday.

Little Rock: Did not play its scheduled game against Alabama due to “influenza hit[ting] its roster and… not expect[ing] to have enough available players to field a team,” as announced Monday. What an uncanny world it is to be relieved about a team contracting the flu.

*Receiving Votes