If you’re just tuning in to women’s basketball now that football has concluded, On3 has you covered. Here are 10 things to catch you up on the college basketball season so far.
1. UCLA still undefeated
There’s only one unbeaten team remaining in men’s and women’s basketball – UCLA women’s basketball. The Bruins are the undisputed No. 1 team in the country with a 23-0 record, seven Quad 1 wins and a team with very few weaknesses.
South Carolina, USC and Notre Dame were expected to be dominant this year, and while they’re still high in the rankings and all true contenders, it’s UCLA who’s on top.
2. Sophomore sensations
Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo has continued, and even improved upon her dominance from her rookie season. The Irish are 21-2 and Hidalgo is a significant reason for their success, especially in the top half of the season when they were dealing with several key injuries.
Hidalgo is averaging 25.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 4.0 steals per game, while shooting an efficient 50% from the field and 44% from deep.
On the other side of the country, reigning National Freshman of the Year JuJu Watkins has continued her success. USC’s star is averaging 23.9 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.7 blocks per game. The two are both front runners for National Player of the Year honors and will battle it out for the remainder of the regular-season.
3. South Carolina streak
South Carolina’s 43-game win streak that included a national title run was snapped in November by No. 1 UCLA. Just this past week, the Gamecocks lost their second contest of the year on the road at then-No. 6 Texas.
While South Carolina is still one of the elite teams nationally, they aren’t performing at the level of dominance fans saw last season. They’ve had, by far, the toughest schedule of anyone, though, and had a stretch where they won six consecutive games over ranked opponents.
4. LSU transfer back in old form
Hailey van Lith has had an interesting college career, to say the least. After starting her career at Louisville, she played her senior season at LSU a year ago and struggled to find her footing. The system wasn’t right for her and she chose to enter the portal again as a grad transfer rather than staying put or declaring for the WNBA draft.
Van Lith landed at TCU and has thrived under head coach Mark Campbell’s system, averaging 17.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.3 steals, while shooting a career-high 45% from the field.
The Horned Frogs have been one of the biggest surprises of the season too. Now at nearly full strength, TCU is 22-3, tied for first in the Big 12 with a 10-2 conference record and ranked No. 9 in On3’s Top 25 after a strong non-conference slate where they earned wins over NC State and Notre Dame.
5. Tennessee turnaround
Tennessee took a big leap in hiring Kim Caldwell after just one year of Division I coaching at Marshall – and it’s paid off. The women’s basketball blue blood parted ways with head coach Kellie Harper this offseason after finishing unranked in the AP Poll and falling in the Round of 32.
Caldwell came in and instilled hope for the Lady Vols almost immediately. She and her staff excelled in both the transfer portal and recruiting trail, landing not only highly-touted pieces, but pieces that fit.
The Lady Vols just earned a rivalry win over then-No. 5 UConn and have been within two possessions of wins over five ranked programs including LSU twice, Texas, Oklahoma and Vanderbilt. They’re ranked No. 12 in On3’s Top 25 and are trending up.
6. Not meeting expectations
A few teams haven’t lived up to the lofty expectations they had at the start of the season. Iowa State was ranked in the Top 10 and may miss the NCAA Tournament after adding several pieces to a group that includes talented youngsters and veteran point guard Emily Ryan. They’re 17-9 (7th in Big 12) this season.
West Virginia, while still ranked in the AP Poll, has been underwhelming in comparison to their expected success. They have yet to earn a Quad 1 win and have fallen in a few road upsets to Colorado and Arizona. The Mountaineers are 19-5 (6th in Big 12) this season, but have yet to earn a signature win.
Stanford, led by a new head coach after legendary coach Tara VanDerveer’s retirement, have struggled to keep up after transitioning to the ACC this year. They’re 11-12 (14th in ACC) with a few baffling losses, including a road loss at SMU. They certainly lost a significant amount of pieces, but haven’t been able to meet expectations.
7. Veteran head coaches head to WNBA
Lynne Roberts has been a D-I head coach since 2002 – first at Pacific and most recently a nine-year run at Utah, highlighted by a Sweet Sixteen appearance in the 2022-23 season. She started the season with the Utes after transitioning to the Big 12, but left for the LA Sparks head coaching vacancy after four contests.
Karl Smesko coached Florida Gulf Coast for 21 seasons. He saw the program transition to the D-I ranks in 2007 and had immediate success. At the D-I level, Smesko didn’t have a single season where the Eagles won less than 22 games. He started the year with FGCU, but took the Atlanta Dream opening after two games. Both head coaches will start their first WNBA season in a few months.
8. UConn’s finally (relatively) healthy
The UConn Huskies are finally healthy. Well, mostly. Both Azzi Fudd and Paige Bueckers are playing and the Huskies have, unsurprisingly, remained one of the best teams in the country. Their resume is a tad underwhelming, but UConn is dominating Big East competition and has a chance to go far in the NCAA Tournament yet again.
This is likely the Huskies last season with Paige Bueckers, so they’ve got to make the most of it.
9. Iowa post-Caitlin Clark
The Iowa Hawkeyes lost not only the star of women’s basketball, Caitlin Clark, but nearly the entirety of their starting lineup and veteran core. They aren’t close to the same level of talent and success they were for the last few seasons, but the Hawkeyes are a fringe-Top 25 team and recently earned a major upset win over USC on the day of Clark’s jersey retirement.
They’ll add a few highly-ranked freshmen next year and the Hawkeyes, with new head coach Jan Jensen, will have to adjust to playing without a true star.
10. Conference realignment strengthens Big Ten and SEC
With the Pac-12 dissolving at the close of last season, some of the best teams were dispersed among other power conferences. The Big Ten added USC and UCLA, which are now the two best teams in the conference. They brought star power, talent and eyeballs to the league. New additions also included Oregon and Washington, which both sit somewhere in the middle of the pack.
The SEC added Texas and Oklahoma – also among the best in the conference. Adding those two programs to an already elite conference cemented the SEC as the best conference in the country. Both new programs are ranked in the Top 15 of On3’s Top 25 and are poised for postseason success.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
