Daily Briefing — Nov. 13, 2021

(All times in Eastern)

Watch List, Saturday, Nov. 13

Must-watch

None

Good games

Fordham @ Seton Hall, 11:30 a.m., FloHoops

Also watchable

St. Francis @ Michigan, 2 p.m., B1G+

Sicko games

(For the most ardent fans of the sport)

None

Pac-12 or Big Ten on national television

None

Friday, Nov. 12 recap

#1 South Carolina: 72-41 win over RV South Dakota. Point guard Destanni Henderson scored 15 points on 5-8 shooting (4-5 3-pt) with five rebounds and five assists; center Aliyah Boston did a little of everything, with nine points, five rebounds, an assist, a steal, four blocks and no turnovers in just 16 minutes; Syracuse transfer center Kamilla Cardoso had nine points (4-6 FG) and eight rebounds in 15 minutes; forward Sania Feagin — the consensus No. 8 freshman in the country — made her collegiate debut, scoring four points on 2-2 shooting; point guard Raven Johnson — the consensus No. 11 freshman in the country — left with a yet-unknown knee injury. Point guard Liv Korngable led the Coyotes with 24 points on 8-15 from the field (8-11 FT), five rebounds and four turnovers; star center Hannah Sjerven had just five points on 2-10 shooting.

#4 Maryland: 88-67 win over Villanova. Just six Terps scored, but all six reached double digits, as Maryland shot 56.7% from the field and 50.0% from three. Big Angel Reese led with 23 points (10-15 FG); big Mimi Collins had 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists with no turnovers; combo guard Shyanne Sellers — the consensus No. 44 freshman in the country — has had double-digit scoring and shot better than 50% from the field and 60% from three in her first two games. The Terps’ 10 3-point attempts are tied for their lowest since Jan. 10, 2020, when they took nine against Indiana. Wildcats star wing Maddy Siegrist was held to 11 points on 5-15 shooting from the field — she’s now shooting 29.4% from the field and 0.0% from three through two games.

#5 N.C. State: 90-57 win over Wofford. Combo forward Kayla Jones had 15 points on 6-8 shooting (2-3 3-pt) with three assists against just one turnover; Rutgers transfer point guard Diamond Johnson slid to the bench with Jones healthy but scored 10 points on 4-4 FG (2-2 3-pt), plus seven rebounds, four assists and two steals; Mississippi State transfer wing Madison Hayes had her first six points as a Wolfpack player. Sophia Hart, Aziaha James and Jessica Timmons — the consensus Nos. 49, 55 and 98 freshmen in the country, respectively — made their collegiate debuts, with Hart scoring a point; James shooting 4-8 from the field with three rebounds, two assists and two steals; and Timmons collecting seven points, all on free throws. Terrier off-ball guards Jackie Carman and Annabelle Schultz combined for 32 points on 11-23 FG (8-16 3-pt) and just one turnover.

#6 Louisville, #22 Arizona: The Wildcats beat the Cardinals 61-59 in overtime, an ugly affair that was neck-and-neck the whole way. Both teams committed 17 turnovers, with Arizona adding 21 fouls and Louisville 15, and they shot a combined 32.8% from the field and 23.3% from three. Wildcats wing Cate Reese and centers Lauren Ware and Alabama transfer Ariyah Copeland were the only players to make at least half their shots (minimum three attempts), combining for 37 points on 14-23 shooting and 24 rebounds, with Reese contributing a game-high 21 points and 3-5 shooting from three; wing Sam Thomas and off-ball guard Helena Pueyo were the only players on either team to have more assists than turnovers, combining for a 10:2 ratio.

Louisville’s starting backcourt of combo guard Hailey Van Lith and point guard Chelsie Hall each reached double digits on the back of a combined 21 free-throw attempts; combo forward Emily Engstler started but played sixth-woman minutes, with power guard Mykasa Robinson playing 33 minutes off the bench; center Olivia Cochran had a game-high six turnovers. The Cardinals’ highly anticipated backcourt minutes hierarchy shook out, in order: Van Lith, Hall, Robinson, Norika Konno, Ahlana Smith and Payton Verhulst. Verhulst — the consensus No. 10 freshman in the country — had her first career points in only four minutes.

#14 Oregon State: 82-52 win over Loyola Marymount. Point guard Talia von Oelhoffen — the consensus No. 29 freshman in the country who joined the Beavers last spring — picked up where she left off, with 19 points on 6-11 shooting, with three rebounds, three assists and five steals against six turnovers; center Taylor Jones scored 15 points on 7-11 FG, adding eight rebounds and just one turnover; big Taya Corosdale grabbed seven rebounds (four offensive) and had four blocks; wing Greta Kampschroeder — the consensus No. 19 freshman in the country — scored her first two points, plus three rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks in 23 minutes off the bench; center Kennedy Brown played 20 minutes off the bench in her first game since tearing her ACL on Feb. 7, 2020, with 10 points, five rebounds and three assists; off-ball guard Ashtynne Marotte — the consensus No. 87 freshman in the country — had her first 15 points on 6-9 shooting (3-3 3-pt) in 18 minutes off the bench.

#15 Tennessee: 49-41 win over UCF. Jordan Horston had a points/rebounds/turnovers triple-double and was one of just three Vols to even approach 50% shooting from the field. Tennessee had 28 turnovers to only 11 assists, while the Knights had 24 turnovers and just five assists. They were led by point guard Diamond Battles and her game-high 21 points, though it took her 6-15 shooting and seven turnovers to get there.

RV FGCU: 70-53 win over Temple. The Owls drew within two points early in the third quarter, but the Eagles pulled away behind star big wing Kierstan Bell’s 26 points on 10-18 shooting from the field (2-8 3-pt), nine rebounds, three assists and three steals against three turnovers. Big Alexa Williamson led Temple with 23 points on 11-20 shooting and 12 rebounds against three turnovers.

RV Oklahoma: 101-89 win over Arkansas State. Six Sooners reached double digits, led predictably by Madi Williams’ 18 points (8-13 FG), seven rebounds and three turnovers and Taylor Robertson’s 17 points (5-10 3-pt), four rebounds and four assists; freshman center Emma Svoboda scored 14 points off the bench on 6-8 shooting, plus nine rebounds and three blocks against one turnover. The Red Wolves were led by off-ball guard Morgan Wallace’s 23 points, achieved despite 4-10 shooting via 16 free-throw attempts.

RV South Dakota State: 71-76 loss to Mississippi State. Summit League preseason Player of the Year big Myah Selland has yet to return from the season-ending knee injury she sustained last February, and until she does, the Jackrabbits are a shell of themselves. Freshman point guard Paige Meyer had a game-high 25 points on 9-18 shooting (5-7 3-pt), four rebounds and three assists. Wing Rickea Jackson led the Bulldogs with 23 points on 8-21 shooting from the field (2-3 3-pt), while Tulane transfer combo guard JerKaila Jordan had a double-double with 17 points on 6-11 shooting and 11 rebounds, plus two steals, two blocks and zero turnovers; MTSU transfer point guard Anastasia Hayes scored 14 on 5-8 FG, with four assists; 2020-21 breakout point guard Myah Taylor shot just 1-9 but had seven assists against two turnovers.

Duke: 70-56 win over Dayton. Wing Lexi Gordon had her second straight game leading the Blue Devils and shooting 5-10 from three; freshman Shayeann Day-Wilson — the consensus No. 43 freshman in the country — had 13 points on 5-7 shooting (3-5 3-pt) and three assists against four turnovers. Point guard Makira Cook, off-ball guard Jenna Giacone and wing Erin Whalen combined for 46 points on 38.0% shooting for the Flyers, the A-10 preseason favorite.

Minnesota: 66-59 overtime win over Arizona State. A true Sicko Game, the teams combined for 30 turnovers and shot 53.8% from the line, which was the exclamation point on 34.7% shooting from the field and 26.2% from three. Point guard Jasmine Powell had 21 points on 9-22 shooting (3-6 3-pt), nine rebounds and five assists against four turnovers; big Kadiatou Sissoko had 14 points on 6-11 shooting from the field and six rebounds. The Sun Devils were led by wing Taya Hanson’s 16 points on 7-17 shooting (2-6 3-pt), three assists and three turnovers.

Washington: 57-51 win over San Diego. The Huskies’ new talent in their opening game: Rice transfer center Nancy Mulkey had six points on 3-5 shooting, five rebounds and five blocks in 31 minutes; Rice transfer point guard Lauren Schwartz had nine points on 4-7 shooting, two assists, five steals and five turnovers in 30 minutes; Baylor transfer combo guard Trinity Oliver shot 0-1 in two minutes; Australian Olivia Pollerd, the No. 22 international freshman, had an offensive rebound in two minutes; consensus Nos. 103, 105 and 116 freshmen Avery Van Sickle, Marisa Davis-Jones and Jess Finney, respectively, did not play.

Wake Forest: 64-42 win over Cornell. Off-ball guard Jewel Spear: 32 points, 12-16 shooting, 7-11 3-pt. Every other Demon Deacon combined: 32 points, 14-45 shooting (31.1%), 2-13 3-pt (15.4%). Spear added three rebounds and three assists against four turnovers for good measure.

Pitt: 72-63 win over Lafayette. Center Rita Igbokwe had a 23-point, 13-rebound double-double on 11-15 shooting, plus four blocks; off-ball guard Jayla Everett scored 20 points on 7-17 shooting from the field (1-5 3-pt), plus two steals, four blocks and four turnovers. Wing Claire Gallagher led the Leopards with 19 points on 7-10 shooting (5-6 3-pt) and five rebounds against just one turnover.

UMass: 80-71 win over Harvard. Wing Sam Breen scored 23 points on 9-18 shooting (2-7 3-pt), with 12 rebounds (five offensive) and four assists against five turnovers; off-ball guard Ber’Nyah Mayo and wing Sydney Taylor joined her in double digits with 17 points each; Mayo shot 5-14 from the field (4-10 3-pt) with 10 rebounds, four assists and six steals; Taylor shot 6-17 FG (4-11 3-pt). Reserve point guard McKenzie Forbes led the Crimson with 20 points (6-19 shooting, 4-9 3-pt), eight rebounds and seven assists against four turnovers.

MTSU: 54-46 win over VCU. The Raiders, picked to finish third in C-USA, faced the A-10’s preseason No. 4 in the Rams, and Maine transfer point guard Dor Saar’s game-high 18 points (5-17 shooting) and six assists against just one turnover helped the Raiders notch a quality non-conference win.

Florida: 87-70 loss to Towson. The Gators keep plummeting, and they have now recorded possibly their worst loss in over a decade. There were some bad ones at the end of the Amanda Butler era and during the Cameron Newbauer era, but never a 17-point loss to a team picked to finish outside the top of a weak non-power conference. Big Jordyn Merritt had 18 points on 6-13 shooting (4-4 3-pt), 11 rebounds, four assists, two steals, three blocks and three turnovers; star wing Lavender Briggs and Rutgers transfer combo guard Zippy Broughton struggled from the field, combining to shoot 7-26. The Tigers were led by point guard Aleah Nelson’s career-high 39 points on 11-21 FG (6-7 3-pt, 11-14 FT), eight rebounds and eight assists.

Vanderbilt: Closed as 8.5-point favorites against Little Rock, then lost by 16. Not good. The Commodores committed 20 turnovers, while Sali Kourouma scored 31 points on 9-16 shooting (2-5 3-pt, 10-12 FT) for the Trojans.

Lamar: 107-37 win over DIII Howard Payne. Off-ball guard Sabria Dean scored 31 points on 11-14 shooting (8-11 3-pt), with three rebounds, four steals and just one turnover; center Akasha Davis had a 27-point, 13-rebound double-double on 9-10 shooting from the field, plus three steals and no turnovers. For context, only once have DI teammates ever put up 27 points, three steals and no more than one turnover each against another DI team in the Her Hoop Stats era (since 2009).