Top NCAA Women’s Basketball Match-ups — November 2018
The NCAA women’s basketball season is right around the corner and we could not be more excited here at Her Hoop Stats. We have made a list of the top matchups that are circled on our calendar for November 2018.
Please read below for more details on each of the matchups listed above.
University of South Florida at Ohio State — Tuesday, November 6 at 7:00 p.m. (ET) on BTN+
Ohio State will be looking for leadership and offensive help due to the graduation of Kelsey Mitchell, who averaged 24.5 points per game in her career as a Buckeye. As referenced in our Ohio State preview by Jenn Hatfield, they will be dependent on graduate transfers scoring this season.
USF averaged 42.8 rebounds per game last season and had a rebound rate of 56.3%, which both ranked tenth in the country. The Bulls return Kitija Laksa, who spent the summer playing for her native country, Latvia, at the Women’s Basketball World Cup in Spain. Last season she averaged 21.1 points per game, which ranked 19th in the country. She also was first in free throw percentage, shooting 96.5% from the line.
Mississippi State at Virginia — Friday, November 9 at 7:00 p.m. (ET) on ACC Network
Mississippi State enters the season coming off back-to-back national championship game losses, and they have also graduated their program’s winningest senior class. On the bright side for the Bulldogs, they are returning 6'7" center Teaira McCowan, who will be on most first-team All-America ballots and be in the running for both SEC and National Player of the Year. She will be a nightmare match-up for teams this season. She averaged 13.9 rebounds per game last season, which was third in the country, and had an offensive rebound rate of 22.2%, ranking second in the country. Also, last season Mississippi State was second in the country with an assisted shot rate of 41.7%.
Virginia is an up-and-coming team that now has Hall of Famer Tina Thompson as their head coach. This will be a team to watch this season and over the next couple of years to make some noise in the NCAA.
Syracuse at Oregon — Saturday, November 10 at 4:00 p.m. (ET)
Oregon returns the most one of the most exciting players to watch in the NCAA with Sabrina Ionescu, also known as the “triple-double queen.” She is the all-time NCAA women’s leader in career triple-doubles. Last season she averaged 19.7 points per game, 6.7 rebounds per game and 7.8 assists per game, the latter of which was fourth in the country. The Ducks were one of the most efficient offensive teams in the country last season with an effective field goal percentage of 57.1% and a true shooting percentage of 59.6%, both ranking second in the country behind UConn.
Syracuse is returning Tiana Mangakahia, who led the NCAA in assists per game last season 9.8 and assist rate of 60.4%
Ohio State at Connecticut — Sunday, November 11 at 12:00 p.m. (ET) on CBS Sports Network
Connecticut is coming off another devastating ending to their season and head coach Geno Auriemma has never shied away from a challenging season opener for the Huskies. It will be interesting to see the player rotations Geno will use in the first game of the season and how they will evolve over the season. Typically, freshmen have not been an integral piece of UConn’s success, but it will be very interesting to see the impact the number one and five prospects respectively in the espnW HoopGurlz Top 100 for the 2018 class, Christyn Williams and Olivia Nelson-Ododa, will have for the Huskies.
Every year since the 2013–2014 season, UConn has led the country in effective field goal percentage and true shooting percentage.
Baylor at Arizona State — Sunday, November 11 at 7:30 p.m. (ET) on ESPN 2
Baylor, which finished 33–2 last season, returns one of the best frontcourts in the nation with 6'7" Kalani Brown and 6'4" Lauren Cox. They are a tall task for any team that they face. Last season the Lady Bears ranked second in points per game, averaging 86.1 per contest, and second in field goal percentage (50.7%). They also dominated the boards, ranking first in the country with a total rebound rate of 61.7%. In addition, they had a block rate of 17.2%, which ranked second in the country.
Arizona State returns their entire roster and made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament last season.
Clemson at South Carolina — Thursday, November 15 at 6:30 p.m. (ET) on SEC Network/ESPN3
The A’ja Wilson era has ended at South Carolina, but the good news for head coach Dawn Staley is that she returns four starters from last season. Last season the Gamecocks shot 47.3% from the field, which ranked tenth in the nation. They also averaged 6.2 blocks per game, ranking sixth in the nation.
Clemson is coming off a 11–19 season. The Tigers had a block rate of 11.9% last season, which was 32nd in the country.
Duke at Maine — Thursday, November 15 at 7:00 p.m. (ET)
Joanne P. McCallie will taking her Blue Devils to face off against one of her former players, Amy Vachon, who was named head coach of the Maine Black Bears last season. There are a lot of Maine ties in the game because Maine offered McCallie her first head coaching job at the age of 26.
Duke will be looking to replace Lexie Brown and Rebecca Greenwell. This backcourt will be missed as they contributed to Duke shooting 38.5% from 3-point range last season, ranking ninth in the country, and a steal rate of 15.3%, ranking 12th in the country.
Maine is coming off an NCAA tournament appearance where they lost to Texas in the first round. Maine ranked 25th in the country last season, averaging 10 offensive rebounds per game. They return their leading scorer from last season, Blanca Millan, who averaged 17.5 points per game. She also averaged 3.0 steals per game, which ranked 17th in the country, and her steal rate (4.5%) ranked 11th in the country.
Green Bay at Missouri — Friday, November 16 at 7:00 p.m. (ET) on SEC Network/ESPN3
Missouri’s Sophie Cunningham ranked second nationally in true shooting percentage last season, shooting 68.6%. Missouri had a true shooting percentage of 56.7%, which ranked 11th in the country. They also had a total rebound rate of 56.2%, ranking 12th in the country.
Green Bay last season led the country in opponent points per game, only giving up 47.4 points per game. They also led the nation in offensive rebounds per game, averaging 8.1 per game, and had an offensive rebound rate of 23.2%.
Notre Dame at DePaul — Saturday, November 17 at 2:00 p.m. (ET)
Notre Dame is coming in this season as the favorites to repeat as NCAA champions. They return all their starters and also have two key players returning from ACL injuries. The Fighting Irish ranked first in defensive rating last year and third in points per game, averaging 85.1 per contest. They also return Arike Ogunbowale, who proved she can be clutch in big moments last season.
DePaul is a fundamentally coached team by Doug Bruno. They love to push the ball and score at a high rate. Last season they were sixth in the country in points per game, averaging 82.9, and ranked third in the country with a 3-point rate of 48.5%. They averaged 20.7 assists per game, ranking fourth in the country, and had an assisted shot rate of 68.9%, also ranking fourth in the nation.
Vanderbilt at Connecticut (Hall of Fame Showcase in Uncasville, CT) — Saturday, November 17 at 6:00 p.m. (ET) on SNY Network/ESPN3
Vanderbilt is coming off a 7–24 season and will have a tough test against the Huskies. Last year Vanderbilt had a field goal percentage of 45.0%, ranking 30th in the country, and shot 37.5% from 3-point range, ranking 16th in the country. This is the first match up between head coaches Geno Auriemma and Stephanie White, who took over the Commodores program in 2016.
Maryland at South Carolina — Sunday, November 18 at 5:30 p.m. (ET) on ESPN
Maryland is coming off a 26–8 record last season. Our own Jenn Hatfield wrote a great preview on the Terps. They return their top player, Kaila Charles, who averaged 17.9 points and 8.1 rebounds per game last season. The Terps shot 38.8% from 3-point range last season, which ranked eighth in the nation.
Quinnipiac vs. Texas (Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, FL) — Friday, November 23 at 5:00 p.m. (ET)
Texas finished with a 28–7 record last season and will be looking for replacements for Ariel Atkins and Brooke McCarty who were key to their success last season. The Longhorns were 12th in the country in field goal percentage, shooting 47.1%, and had a total rebound rate of 57.3%, which ranked third in the country. They also bring in the number two prospect in the espnW HoopGurlz Top 100, Charli Collier.
Quinnipiac has won the last two MAAC championships and is coming off a 28–6 season. They ranked 18th in the country in steals last season, averaging 16.8 per game.
Arizona State vs. Louisville (Southpoint Shootout in Las Vegas, NV) — Friday, November 23 at 5:30 p.m. (ET)
Louisville and head coach Jeff Walz will certainly miss Myisha Hines-Allen this season, but they return one of the program’s top scorers in Asia Durr. She is the reigning ACC Player of the Year and set a school record with 47 points against Ohio State last season. She can take over a basketball game and will be on most first-team All-American ballots this season.
DePaul at Connecticut — Wednesday, November 28 at 7:00 p.m. (ET) on SNY Network/ESPN3
The friendship between Geno Auriemma and Doug Bruno always makes this game interesting. Being a UConn fan, this game is always on my radar due to the familiarity between the two head coaches. Bruno’s team is able to score at a high volume with the Huskies. If you love offensive games, this will be a fun one to watch.
Iowa at Notre Dame — Thursday, November 29 at 7:00 p.m. (ET) on ESPN2
Iowa shot 48.9% from the field last season, ranking fifth in the nation. The Hawkeyes had a true shooting percentage of 57%, ranking ninth in the nation. They return Megan Gustafson, who led the NCAA in scoring last season by averaging 25.7 points per game. She also led the nation in true shooting percentage at 70.4%.
In case you missed it, our own Cindy Smith wrote a preview of the Fighting Irish.
Syracuse at Minnesota — Thursday, November 29 at 7:30 p.m. (ET) on Big Ten Network
This will be one of the first big tests for Minnesota head coach Lindsay Whalen, who is in her first season at her alma mater. The Gophers last season ranked fifth in the nation with 84.9 points per game.
Did we miss any? Let us know and be sure to follow Her Hoop Stats on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for your women’s basketball coverage.
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