November 13, 2024
The Weekly Fast Break: Packed up and ready to go (to the Final Four)
Paopao powers Gamecocks, Stanford has familiar name on the court and much more
It was not until just a few years ago that the phrase ‘Road to the Final Four’ resonated with us as the true definition of a family road trip. There is the process of packing the trusted family vehicle at the start with luggage, sports equipment, snacks and entertainment devices. Then you plug your destination into the GPS for the fastest route and sit back to enjoy the ride. But no trip is as smooth as we would like it to be. There is always road construction on the route, which means potholes, large cones, road closures and detours. There will be an unscheduled stop for a bathroom break, which puts the trip behind schedule. Your co-pilot might doze off while listening to the game on the radio and just when you think are you in the clear, Mother Nature dumps a rainstorm on you unlike any other as you get to the exit ramp.
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In the spirit of conquering the basketball season like family road trips and all the challenges thrown at us, we welcome you to year three of The Weekly Fast Break. We will do our best each week to dissect the landscape of women’s college basketball, breakdown what we see on and off the court and shine our spotlight on players you will know, and some you will not.
There will be weeks when a late three-point shot will send everyone into a frenzy and others when an untimely turnover sends the postseason predictions deep into a pothole. The late, great Pat Summitt once said, “Offense sells tickets. Defense wins games. Rebounding wins championships.” While the season is long and the road will have its share of bumps and cones to weave through, the time has come to box out and leave it all on the court – one rebound at a time.
TIP-OFF
38 Plus 2: All eyes are on the defending national champions as they have started the 2024-25 season in the same manner they ended the last one – by winning. South Carolina was 38-0 last year and has now extended their streak to 40 games in a row. Wins over Michigan (by six) and No. 13 NC State (by 14) at neutral sites in the first week of the season have the Gamecocks sitting as the No. 1 team in the AP Poll. 6’2 forward Chloe Kitts led South Carolina against Michigan with 19 points, but did not play against NC State due to an academic policy issue. It was the backcourt that led the way for them over the Wolfpack, as senior Te-Hina Paopao dropped 23 points and sophomore sensation MiLaysia Fulwiley popped for 18 off the bench. The post-game is a work in progress for the Gamecocks, but with balance up and down the roster and a team intensity that is hardly matched by any opponent, South Carolina seems quite comfortable in the driver’s seat.
Home Court Advantage: As the 2023-24 season was ending last April so was the most successful coaching career in the college game. Tara VanDerveer, the NCAA’s winningest basketball coach (men’s or women’s) with 1,216 victories retired after 38 seasons at Stanford. VanDerveer was a trailblazer in the game, setting the standard for winning not only in Palo Alto, but also during her time as head coach at Idaho and Ohio State. Her Stanford program won three national titles and was the model for all others in the Pac-12 Conference, racking up 27 regular season conference titles and 15 conference tournament championships. While much has changed at Stanford (joining the ACC) and long-time assistant and former player Kate Paye is now the head coach, VanDerveer’s legacy will long be felt on The Farm. On Nov. 10, Stanford unveiled the naming of the playing court at Maples Pavilion in her honor. While Geno Auriemma of UConn is expected to pass VanDerveer as the sport’s all-time wins leader later this month, Tara VanDerveer Court will always be a place where excellence is measured.
A Difficult Road Traveled: While it is hard not to get caught up in the wins, losses and predictions of a season, the peaks and valleys of the road this past off-season at Gonzaga have been very different. Head coach Lisa Fortier was diagnosed with breast cancer in February of 2024 and underwent surgery in April. After months of radiation and chemotherapy treatments, the Bulldogs leader is back on the sidelines for the 2024-25 season. Her team is coming off a Sweet 16 appearance in 2024 and is picked to win the WCC this season. Fortier will rely heavily on fifth-year senior Yvonne Ejim, who has garnered many pre-season accolades including a spot on the Naismith Top 50 Watch List. Gonzaga is 1-1 heading into two key home games against Cal (Nov. 14) and Wyoming (Nov. 17).
“I feel really good. I’m done with all my treatment. It takes a while apparently to recover. I’m ready to start doing that,” Fortier said during WCC Media Day in Las Vegas in October. “There’s a lot of growth that’s happened over the past year. Life gives you different times for perspective.” She has stated that she is “cancer free” and we here at The Weekly Fast Break celebrate that news.
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Poll Watch: The preseason AP Poll dropped in late October, and it gave everyone just enough time to fidget and overanalyze the list. What we really needed was the first week of regular season games to show what we have been talking about for months – predictions are just numbers on a page. Games give us results. The top eight spots remain unchanged, while Maryland moved up seven spots to No. 11 after going 3-0 to start the season and knocking off now No. 16 Duke. The Blue Devils are down five places, as is Baylor to No. 17. Three teams dropped out of the Top 25 – Florida State, Creighton and Indiana, while Stanford and Oregon bounced in with 3-0 starts respectively. Four mid-majors are receiving votes, led by Fairfield with 11 and South Dakota State with nine.
(Mandatory Credit: Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images)
STAR POWER
The start of the season brings excitement to see both new and familiar faces back on the floor. Two of the hardest things to do in college sports is return from an injury to make an impact for your team and the other is to be the new kid on the block – a freshman who may get lost on campus but is tearing it up on the court.
One of the most highly anticipated returns to the women’s game this season from injury was done with a bit of flare that we were accustomed to seeing from Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles. The junior guard was named ACC Player of the Week after posting a 20-point triple-double on Nov. 4. Miles racked up 20 points, 10 rebounds and a team-high 10 assists in Notre Dame’s 105-61 victory over Mercyhurst and followed it up with 17 points and five rebounds in a 102-58 Irish win over Purdue Nov. 10.
BYU went 2-0 in the first week of the season and freshman Delaney Gibb was a big piece of that success. Gibb was the leading scorer for the Cougars in their two victories, averaging 19.5 points (tied for sixth nationally among freshmen) while shooting 55% from the field and 50% from behind the arc. In BYU’s comeback win over Wyoming on Nov. 9, the 5’10 guard from Raymond, Alberta scored or assisted on 31 of BYU’s 51 points in the second half and finished the game with 22 points. Gibb was named Big 12 Freshman of the Week.
While some players are getting back on the court and others are just joining the Division I party, there are always steadfast seniors who lead their teams through thick and thin. Case in point, St. Thomas (MN) senior guard Jada Hill, who was named the first Summit League Peak Performer of the Week for the 2024-25 season. Hill signed out of high school at UST as the program was making the jump from Division III to Division I. The Tommies have been navigating the four-year NCAA transition period and steadily improving each season. UST is off to a 3-0 start for the first time ever in the DI era and was led by Hill who averaged 21.7 points per game. She started the season by dropping a career-high 35 points in the Tommies’ 84-81 overtime victory over Milwaukee and setting the program’s DI era single-game scoring record. 17 of her 35 points came in the second half, with 12 in the final quarter alone.
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SHOT CLOCK VIOLATIONS
While there is game film to dissect, the start of the season can leave a little to be desired. Coaches are still tinkering with lineups and have only scratched the surface of their playbooks, while some players are returning from injury in limited roles and others are falling under the ‘load management’ column. With that said, we’ll have our fair share of film breakdown throughout the season to take you inside the X’s and O’s.
The landscape of women’s basketball is constantly changing, with record-setting numbers of fans watching and attending games. The 2024 Olympics showcased the best players and teams from across the world, and the WNBA is at the highest level of success since the league’s inception. The college season is now underway and with growing popularity also comes a heighten scrutiny on the game and those in it.
On Nov. 11 a story was published by Onward State out of State College, PA concerning alleged misconduct within the Penn State women’s basketball program by head coach Carolyn Kieger. Per its own website, Onward State is ‘an independent, alternative Penn State news website that seeks to foster the student voice through the combination of commentary that is fair, authentic, and sometimes humorous; analysis that is critical and irreverent; and news that is relevant and accurate.’ The story can be found here.
Through a series of interviews beginning in February 2023 that included 13 former Penn State and Marquette players, a pattern of negative behavior by the head coach emerged, according to the story. The piece dives into Kieger’s current program (PSU) and former (Marquette), outlining a culture that was harmful to the mental health of players and included bullying, racism, and body shamming. Of those 13 players, five spoke on the record with the student publication, while the other eight remained anonymous, citing fear of retribution. Several players said they left their respective programs because of Kieger’s conduct. Former assistant coaches that worked for Kieger were also interviewed.
(Mandatory Credit: Melissa Tamez-Imagn Images)
While there will be much to discuss about this in the future, we want to bring two things to light. First, a tip of the cap to student journalism that is still alive and well on college campuses. These students at Penn State took this matter seriously and did their due diligence on a difficult subject. Secondly, what will the university and its athletic administration do now? Penn State is not that far removed from the stain of the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal and those reverberations have been felt for many years. Current Rutgers head football coach Greg Schiano was not hired at Tennessee for the same job in 2017 because he was an assistant during the Sandusky era at PSU. He denied any knowledge of what happened at PSU in court depositions but just the slightest connection was enough to derail that job for him. Penn State cannot afford to look past this alleged misconduct by Kieger, especially as we continue to emphasize the health and well-being of student-athletes in this current era of college athletics. The Penn State administration must do its own due diligence now, just as their own student journalists did.
FULL COURT PRESS
The first week of the regular season proved to be smooth ride for some and bumpier for others. Coaches will tell you that this is just the beginning, and they are still learning about their teams. While that is true, coaches and players can get impatient and want to put their foot on the gas right now. So please be sure everyone is buckled in for your travels and keep an eye on the road for these games coming up (check your local listings for game times and broadcast availability):
Nov. 13
Colorado State at BYU
No. 11 Maryland at Syracuse
Villanova at Princeton
Wisconsin at R/V South Dakota State
Nov. 14
R/V Creighton at No. 10 K-State
Dayton at No. 16 Duke
Omaha at Kansas
St. Thomas (MN) at No. 8 Iowa State
Nov. 15
No. 2 UCONN at No. 14 UNC (Greensboro, NC)
Air Force at Army
Murray State at No. 7 LSU
Nov. 16
Cleveland State at Akron
Liberty at R/V Tennessee
R/V Miami at Florida
Oregon State at Minnesota
R/V Fairfield at Oklahoma State
No. 18 Louisville at No. 20 Kentucky
No. 21 Nebraska at South Dakota (Sioux Falls, SD)
Washington State at Texas Tech
Nov. 17
No. 16 Duke at R/V South Dakota State
No. 25 Stanford at R/V Indiana
No. 12 Ohio State at Belmont
No. 13 NC State at R/V TCU
R/V Iowa at Drake
No. 4 Texas at DePaul
Arkansas at No. 5 UCLA
Nov. 19
No. 9 Oklahoma at Wichita State
Rutgers at Virginia Tech
Bowling Green at No. 15 West Virginia
Temple at Georgetown
*All statistics cited in this column are sourced from university and conference provided statistics
Written by Missy Heidrick
I am a retired Kansas State shooting guard and spent almost 20 years working in Higher Education and Division 1 athletics. I am currently a basketball analyst for television and radio, contributing correspondent at The Next, Locked on Women's Basketball podcast host, WBB Naismith Award board of selectors member and run my own consulting business. I am a proud mother of two and wife to a patient husband who is almost as big of a sports junkie as I am!
