NCAA Top 25 Weekly Recap

Stanfords Erica McCall leads Cardinals to consecutive wins this week. (Rob Sirota/Icon Sportswire)

As we close in on the end of the regular season, this was a great weekend for Top 25 matchups, big upsets, and Senior Day Celebrations. Teams that had been on a roll, hit the wall and players shined in the last couple games of the season.

UConn finished the regular season undefeated with wins over Tulane and #20 South Florida. The real story was Senior Day for UConn on Saturday against Tulane. Although the final score (80-40) looked like a typical Husky win, the first quarter was anything but typical for UConn. Tulane started the game with the hot hand, whereas the Huskies were very sluggish and missed shot after shot. The Green Wave extended the lead to 13-2 giving the Huskies their first double digit deficit of the season. The lone field goal came from Moriah Jefferson in the first quarter, 8:35 into the game. With Jefferson’s layup and some free throws the Huskies closed the gap to 13-8 at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, the sleeping beast was awakened. UConn outscored Tulane 28-7 in the second quarter and 23-4 in the third quarter. The slow start highlights the effect of Senior Day celebrations. Time and time again we have seen teams have slow starts following the emotional ceremonies highlighting their careers before the games. Due to this effect, Stanford has already moved its Senior Day celebrations to after the game. I believe more teams should take Stanford’s lead and move the ceremonies to after the game.

Thursday saw two Top 25 matchups, #10 Louisville vs. #17 Miami and #15 Kentucky vs. #24 Missouri. Louisville had no problem with Miami, coasting to a 19 point lead at the half, only to outscore the Hurricanes by another 15 points in the third. Louisville’s Myisha Hines-Allen has been a consistent force for the Cardinals who have now won 20 of its last 21 games. Kentucky and Missouri are two SEC teams that are still trying to get into a groove heading into the March tournament. All season, Kentucky has been a team that scores in chunks, or a team that can’t score. This game was another example of this. Kentucky led by 13 at the half, but were outscored in the third 25-11 to trail the Tigers by 1. However Kentucky turned it on in the fourth quarter again with Janee Thompson scoring 12 of the Wildcats 19 points, leading Kentucky to a 69-59 win.

Pac 12 Friday saw #7 Oregon State heading to #13 Stanford, with a 14 game win streak on the line. Stanford worked their game plan perfectly, they took Ruth Hamblin, last year’s Pac 12 Defensive Player of the Year and the current NCAA leader in blocked shots, defensively out of the game. Stanford pushed the ball up the floor to get to the basket before Hamblin could make it down the floor, they shot 57% from 3-point land and many shots from outside of Hamblin’s reach. Oregon State had kept all of their previous 14 competitors to 54 points or less, instead it was the Beavers who were held to 54 points while shooting just 34% from the field.

Saturday, #5 Ohio State and #20 Michigan State played a little extra… THREE overtimes! Both teams battled back and forth all game long, OSU led by 3 after 1, MSU tied it up at the half, Spartans took a 2 point lead at the end of the third, only to have the Kelsey Mitchell (48 pts) score the final 5 points in regulation to send the game to overtime. Jasmine Hines had 15 of her 36 points in the overtimes to lead the Spartans to a 107-105 win.

Sunday was a very busy day in the Top 25! #14 UCLA helped Oregon State share the Regular Season Pac 12 title with #9 Arizona State as the Bruins controlled the Sun Devils behind 24 points from Nirra Fields and 22 points from Jordin Canada in a 74-61 win. The top tier of the Pac 12 will do some damage in the tournament. #15 Kentucky spoiled #11 Texas A&M’s Senior Day with a 71-58 win. Kentucky broke the game open in the third quarter when Makayla Epps scored 9 of the Wildcats 19 points in the quarter. This was another tough SEC matchup and for the Aggies dropped their overall record behind Mississippi State, Kentucky and Florida. In the ACC #12 Florida State hung on to beat #17 Miami. Both teams showed great fight as 16 points were scored in the final 51 seconds of the game, but Leticia Romero’s 3 free throws in the final 7 seconds were just enough to keep the Hurricanes at bay.

Monday saw the final game of the 29-0 regular season for the UConn Huskies. A 79-59 win over #20 South Florida capped a regular season career record of 116-4 for Breanna Stewart and the Seniors. The 32-14 third quarter sealed the deal for the Huskies who only scored 9 points in the second quarter. UConn is a team that always seems to come out strong after halftime, a credit to the coaching staff for their in-game adjustments. #4 Baylor took on #6 Texas with the Big 12 title on the line. If Baylor won, they were sole champions, but if Texas won, they would share the regular season title. Kristy Wallace (23 points) and the Lady Bears shut the door on the Longhorns, holding them to 20 points in the first half and just 30 points after 3 periods. Baylor won their 6th straight Big 12 regular season title and it’s 17th straight win overall. Baylor is a team that knows how to win and could give UConn a run for their money in Indianapolis this year.

Thursday

#2 Notre Dame 71, Clemson 52 – Brianna Turner 14 pts, 8 reb

#3 South Carolina 66, Ole Miss 45 – A’ja Wilson 16 pts

#6 Maryland 83, Wisconsin 77 – Shatori Walker-Kimbrough 27 pts

#10 Louisville 79, #17 Miami 51 – Myisha Hines-Allen 15 pts, 9 reb

#11 Texas A&M 57, Auburn 49 – Khaalia Hillsman 16 pts, 7 reb

#12 Florida State 56, NC State 52 – Adut Bulgak 15 pts, 8 reb

#15 Kentucky 69, #24 Missouri 59 – Sophie Cunningham 29 pts, 10 reb

#16 Mississippi State 66, Vanderbilt 61 – Victoria Vivians 21 pts

#18 Syracuse 71, Boston College 55 – Brittney Sykes 15 pts

Friday

#13 Stanford 76, #7 Oregon State 54 – Erica McCall 25 pts