Games to Watch Week 1
Drake is not Starting from the Bottom…
It’s finally here! Week 1 of the NCAA women’s basketball season tips off on Tuesday. Here are the Her Hoop Stats Top 5 Games for this week, with an honorable mention to the USA Basketball college tour. For more on that series, go here.
Missouri State at #23 Minnesota — 11/5 at 4 p.m. ET (BTN+*)
This should be a solid matchup, especially on the glass, as both the Lady Bears and Golden Gophers return their leading rebounders, Jasmine Franklin and Taiye Bello, respectively. Not only did Franklin and Bello lead their teams in rebounds, each had 100+ more rebounds than the player with the second-most.
The Golden Gophers will look to improve on a second-round loss in the WNIT last season. Second-year head coach Lindsay Whalen will welcome five freshmen to the squad to help with that effort. As for the returners, Taiye Bello was named to the Katrina McClain Award, given annually to the nation’s best power forward, while Destiny Pitts was named to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award watch list as one of the nation’s best shooting guards, as well as being named Preseason All-Big Ten.
Missouri State is under the direction of new head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, after Kellie Harper left to take the head job at her alma mater, Tennessee. The Lady Bears are coming off a Sweet Sixteen run, and even with the coaching change, were picked to finish second in the MVC behind Drake. Missouri State returns their second- and third-leading scorers, Alexa Willard and Brice Calip.
#15 Texas at South Florida— 11/8 at 7 p.m. ET
This game will be a battle of experience versus youth, as Texas has only two freshmen on their roster, but four seniors and a graduate student, while USF has five freshmen and only one senior. Even with that dichotomy, both the Longhorns and Bulls were picked to finish second in their respective conferences.Texas is coming off a first-round upset loss in the NCAA tournament. The Longhorns return almost all of their players, including three who were named to the preseason watch lists for their respective positions: Charli Collier (Lisa Leslie/center), Joyner Holmes (McClain/power forward), and Sug Sutton (Nancy Lieberman/point guard).
As for South Florida, they’re coming off a second-round loss in the WNIT, a disappointing result after the season-ending injury to Kitija Laksa. Laksa decided to go pro in her native Latvia rather than attempt a redshirt. Three of the aforementioned five freshmen, Elena Tsineke (Greece), Mihaela Lazic (Croatia), and Kristyna Brabencova (Czech Republic), have already gained international experience playing with their respective national programs.
#12 Florida State at LSU — 11/9 at 2 p.m. ET (SECN)
This game may have one of the better one-on-one matchups of the week. Florida State’s best player, Kiah Gillespie, and LSU’s, Ayana Mitchell, led their teams in scoring last season, both play power forward, and both were named to the watch list for the McClain award, given to the best player at that position.
Florida State is coming off a second round loss in the NCAA tournament, and was picked third in the ACC preseason poll behind Louisville and NC State. The most notable fact about the Seminoles this season is that they return their entire roster, except Sawyani Lassiter, who unfortunately suffered a season-ending knee injury in offseason workouts. It’s her second such injury, after also missing her true freshman season with the same injury. In addition to all the experience, FSU will welcome two freshmen to their roster, River Baldwin and Sammie Puisis, who were both McDonald’s All-Americans last year.
LSU will be looking to bounce back from their season-ending loss to Tennessee in the SEC Tournament and missing the national postseason. The Lady Tigers are off to a good start, receiving votes in the opening AP poll after never being ranked last season. They’ll be led by Mitchell, who in addition to being named to the McClain Award watch list, was named to both the coaches and media SEC Preseason All-Conference First Team, and earned an invite to the Team USA tryouts prior to the PanAm games. The Lady Tigers also return their second- and third-leading scorers from last season, Khayla Pointer and Faustine Aifuwa.
Iowa State at Drake — 11/10 at 3 p.m. ET (ESPN+*)
Both Iowa State and Drake had two players named to preseason award watch lists, but there’s no positional overlap among them, which means this game could be an interesting matchup due to different strengths. Another interesting contrast could be that the Cyclones are looking to replace their all-everything player, while the Bulldogs have theirs back for one more year…
Iowa State lost to fellow Game of the Week team Missouri State in the second round of the NCAA tournament last year. The Cyclones lose 2018–19 Cheryl Miller Award winner and WBCA All-American Bridget Carleton, but return their second- and third-highest scorers in junior Kristin Scott and sophomore Ashley Joens. Scott (Leslie/center) and Joens (Miller/small forward) were named to their respective national award watch lists. Joens also captured gold this summer with Team USA at the U19 FIBA World Cup. As a team, the Cyclones were picked fourth in the Big 12 preseason poll, behind Baylor, Texas, and West Virginia.
Drake is starting strong out of the gate, as both their opening week games were in the final consideration for this list, with their matchup against South Dakota State being the last game cut. The Bulldogs were not ranked in the preseason AP Poll, but did come in №22 in our HHS Preseason Top 25. Drake’s 2018–19 season ended with a one-point overtime loss to Missouri in the first round of the NCAA tournament. They were picked to finish first in the Missouri Valley Conference for the fourth-straight year. They’ll be led by senior Becca Hittner, who was a WBCA All-American Honorable Mention last season, earned an invite to the USA Basketball Trials for the Pan-American Games, and was named to the watchlist for the Drysdale Award, which recognizes the top shooting guard in the country. She led the Bulldogs in scoring last year followed by fellow now-senior Sara Rhine, who was named to the McClain watch list.
#8 South Carolina at #4 Maryland — 11/10 at 3 p.m. ET (ESPN)
The face-off between the Terrapins and Gamecocks in College Park is the only ranked vs. ranked matchup of Week 1. Further, one freshman from each team, Diamond Miller for the Terrapins and Aliyah Boston for the Gamecocks, contributed to Team USA’s FIBA U19 World Cup gold medal this summer.
Maryland is coming off a 6-seed over 3-seed NCAA tournament upset loss against UCLA at home at the Xfinity Center, but was the preseason pick in the Big Ten by both the coaches and media. On an individual level, besides adding Miller and three other freshmen, the Terrapins return their top three scorers. Paramount among the returners is senior Kaila Charles, the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year (both coaches and media), who spent part of September at Team USA training camp and was named to the Miller Award watch list and the AP preseason All-America team. Three other Terrapins made preseason watch lists: second-leading scorer from last season, Taylor Mikesell, was named to the Drysdale Award preseason watch list, while third-best scorer from 2018–19, Stephanie Jones, was named to the McClain watch list, and leading rebounder, Shakira Austin, was named to the Leslie list.
South Carolina lost to eventual national champion Baylor in the 2018–19 Sweet Sixteen. The Gamecocks, in addition to adding Boston and three other freshmen, return their top scorer from last season, now- senior Tyasha Harris, who was named to the Lieberman Award watch list. Harris also spent time on the international scene this summer, capturing a silver as part of Team USA at the PanAm games. The team was picked to finish second in the SEC to Texas A&M by the coaches, and first by the media.
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