The calendar has turned to February, which means there is one month left of the regular season and fewer than six weeks until Selection Sunday. It is officially the home stretch. Every game takes on extra importance with dwindling opportunities remaining to beef up a team’s NCAA Tournament résumé.
For now, let’s take a look at the power conference standings as the regular-season title races come into clearer focus.
Advertisement
In the Big Ten, UCLA can all but wrap up its first league crown in the next 10 days with wins over Ohio State and USC. That would put the Bruins two losses ahead of their closest competitors with the tiebreaker on both.
In the ACC, NC State and Duke face each other Monday night; the victor will emerge with one loss in conference play and theoretically be the team best suited to challenge undefeated Notre Dame.
TCU and Kansas State both have one Big 12 loss, giving the winner of Wednesday’s clash a leg up on the eventual conference crown. (It’s a shame Ayoka Lee is out with a broken foot against arguably the most dominant big in the conference, Sedona Prince.)
Finally, in the SEC, South Carolina naturally sits atop the standings with an unblemished league record, but it has its toughest remaining game at Texas. The Longhorns never quite recovered from a disastrous first quarter in Columbia and need to win on their home court to stay alive in the SEC race. A Texas win would also give hope to LSU and Kentucky, each of which has one loss in conference play.
Although the work of getting into the tournament and earning a hosting seed will carry through March, this could be a decisive week for the eventual conference champs. It’s an early preview for the single elimination that awaits.
Dropped out: Vanderbilt (23)
Almost famous: Illinois, Vanderbilt, Richmond
Three teams rising
LSU’s back in business
The Tigers got right back to business after losing to South Carolina, edging Texas A&M in a defensive slugfest, outlasting Oklahoma in a track meet and then meeting in the middle to comfortably take down Mississippi State — an opponent that upset LSU last season. Unfortunately for the Tigers, their success has come down to exactly three players, no more.
Aneesah Morrow, Flau’jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams have all taken on larger offensive burdens recently, combining for seven more shot attempts per night in the last five games, even though LSU’s pace as a whole has slowed in SEC play. Morrow and Johnson have made up for declining efficiency by increasing their offensive rebounding percentages, while Williams is torching the nets, making 45 percent of her 5.8 3-point attempts per game. Even though the burden feels unsustainable, the big three keep getting the job done.
Advertisement
The only team that has been able to put a dent in the trio’s production is South Carolina, so the offensive distribution might not be a full-blown problem. LSU’s latest sign of hope comes in the form of Jersey Wolfenbarger, who posted 12 points and seven rebounds in her spot start for suspended Sa’Myah Smith. Her length and agility would add a different element to the physicality of the big three.
Georgia Amoore peaking
Back in December, Amoore appeared to turn the corner. After starting the season on a cold streak, the fifth-year Kentucky guard finally found a semblance of her jumper in blowout wins over Queens and Purdue. Nearly two months later, Amoore is all the way back, and she is arguably better than ever.
She is averaging a career-best 19.4 points and shooting a career-best 51.7 percent on 2s and 86.7 percent on free throws, all while leading the nation with 7.5 assists per game (also a career-high). Kentucky is ninth in the country in points per play, even though practically none of the Wildcats had ever played together before this season, other than Amoore and fellow former Hokies’ transfer Clara Strack.
It’s becoming impossible to force Amoore into a shot she doesn’t like because she is comfortable everywhere on the floor. She can always create space for her 3-point jumper with her sidestep, and if you take her off the ball, she cans 41.3 percent of her catch-and-shoot 3s.
Her crossover is devastatingly effective at sending defenders the wrong way, and she makes 71 percent of her shots at the rim. If defenses keep her from getting all the way to the basket, she puts up a variety of runners and floaters and is happy to shoot from midrange.
GEORGIA AMOORE TODAY 🔥
• 43 POINTS
• 8 ASSISTS
• 7/12 3PM
• 15/22 FG— Women’s Hoops Network (@WomensHoops_USA) February 2, 2025
The entire offensive package came together with a career-best 43 points against Oklahoma, the second straight win for Kentucky against a ranked opponent. When the Wildcats needed a bucket the most after the Sooners trimmed a 17-point lead to five in the fourth quarter, there was Amoore with back-to-back triples to keep the game out of reach.
Advertisement
This a special combination between point guard and coach with Amoore helping Kenny Brooks resurrect Kentucky in her final season. Enjoy it while it lasts.
NC State’s rotation clarifying
The rotation is finally clarifying for coach Wes Moore. A thumb injury for Zamareya Jones in December inadvertently made her the odd woman out in the guard room, allowing Moore to settle on Aziaha James, Saniya Rivers and Zoe Brooks as his perimeter trio. And a suitable frontcourt option has finally emerged in the form of freshman Tilda Trygger, who can space the floor just enough to be useful.
James is the most consistent scorer, whose double-digit scoring streak finally came to an end in a win over Wake Forest. Rivers has leveled up as a defender — she’s totaled 13 steals in the last five games, compared to four turnovers, to help NC State win the possession game. Brooks has been a force breaking the paint, jumpstarting the Wolfpack offense with drive and kicks. She also throws some darts inside and on swing passes, buoyed by the team’s excellent spacing.
There isn’t much margin for error, with Madison Hayes as the only credible power forward and suspect depth behind Trygger. But at least the players who were supposed to excel have, giving NC State a fighting chance despite the roster imbalance.
Two teams falling
USC struggles against the zone
USC’s turnover issue reared its head again in the Trojans’ upset loss to Iowa, a common theme in their defeats and close calls this season. However, the Hawkeyes don’t usually create many takeaways — their opponents average fewer than 16 per game, a figure inflated by Iowa’s fast pace.
However, a steadily worsening problem for USC isn’t ball control, but instead an inability to get to the basket. Only 25 percent of their shots have come at the rim over the last five games, a surprisingly low total considering JuJu Watkins’ proficiency on drives and Kiki Iriafen’s offensive steady diet of putbacks.
Opponents are playing more zone against the Trojans because of their lack of spacing, and it has worked to eliminate some of USC’s paint points. The turnover problem is somewhat tied to this as the Trojans throw away the ball on a lot of entry passes, especially when the path to the lane is encumbered by extra defenders.
Advertisement
Coach Lindsay Gottlieb has attempted to counteract the zone defense by putting more spacers in the game — a common lineup recently has been Watkins, Iriafen and the three freshmen: Kennedy Smith, Avery Howell and Kayleigh Heckel. Unfortunately, that lineup is hemorrhaging points defensively because they commit too many fouls, likely on account of being too small. Iowa took 28 free throws Sunday, well above its usual average of 19.2.
Cal needs more offense than 3s
The Golden Bears are 11th in the country in 3-pointers, but their offense is getting a little too one-dimensional. When the long ball isn’t working, they struggle to score. The easiest way to defend Cal isn’t by contesting its 3s, it’s by eliminating them altogether because this is a team that thinks long range as the first, second and third options.
If the Golden Bears attempt fewer than 22 3s, they’re in trouble, and against more active defenses, they haven’t found a way to generate more looks. It’s no accident that Cal attempted 12 and 17 3-pointers in its two most lopsided losses of the season, against Duke and North Carolina, respectively. The initial shock of the Golden Bears has worn off; now they need a counter.
Games to watch
(All times Eastern)
Duke at NC State, 7 p.m. Monday, ESPN2
TCU at Kansas State, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, ESPN+
South Carolina at Texas, 2 p.m. Sunday, ESPN
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
