Women's College Basketball

One of the most highly anticipated nonconference games of the women's college basketball season will not happen.

Mechelle Voepel of ESPN reported Thursday's game between No. 1 South Carolina and No. 9 UConn was canceled because the Gamecocks are looking to make up SEC games that were previously postponed because of COVID-19 concerns.

As a result, South Carolina will play Ole Miss on Thursday, and the Huskies will face DePaul in a Big East game on Wednesday.

"Dawn Staley reached out to me about postponing the series for this season," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "It's a priority for South Carolina to make up SEC games, so this is the best decision for them right now. We know a lot of fans were excited for this game, but we look forward to continuing the series with South Carolina in future seasons."

Staley, who is South Carolina's head coach, echoed those sentiments:

I know our fans always enjoy the UConn game, and our team enjoys the rivalry. But I have always said that our conference season, and especially our goal of another SEC championship, is more central to our program.

As we approach the second half of league play next month, it has become more important to complete our SEC schedule to keep ourselves in the running for a conference title. This Thursday is one of the few dates Ole Miss has open, so, with my team's best interest at heart, I started the conversations that led us to this point.

Perhaps there would have been more urgency to play Thursday's game as scheduled if the two powerhouses didn't already play this season.

The Gamecocks defeated UConn by 16 points in the championship game of the Battle 4 Atlantis in November. The two programs are also scheduled to face each other in each of the next two seasons.

While UConn is widely considered the gold standard of women's college basketball, this season has been something of a roller coaster.

Star player Paige Bueckers has not played since a Dec. 5 victory over Notre Dame with a knee injury, and the team is just 6-3 since with losses to Georgia Tech, Louisville and Oregon.

As for 17-1 South Carolina, its only loss came to Missouri by one point in overtime.

The Gamecocks are 5-1 in SEC play but are chasing 7-0 Tennessee. UConn is the only undefeated team in the Big East at 6-0 in conference play, but the upcoming game against DePaul will be key since the Blue Demons are 8-1.         

Kansas State junior center Ayoka Lee set an NCAA women's basketball record with 61 points in a 94-65 win over Oklahoma on Sunday, breaking a record that had stood since 1987.

Lee scored the record-setting basket with about three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Lee had a dominant afternoon from start to finish against the 14th-ranked Sooners. She had 12 points within the first five minutes of the first quarter and tacked on another 30 points in the second quarter alone.

Lee was particularly effective in the post and shot 23-of-30 from the field en route to the 61 points. She also had 12 rebounds in the win.

The NCAA women's basketball single-game scoring record was previously set by Cindy Brown at Long Beach State in a 1987 win against San Jose State when she tallied 60 points. Former Minnesota guard Rachel Banham tied the record in a 2016 win over Northwestern.

Lee entered Sunday's game averaging 23.6 points and 10.8 rebounds this season. She's in her third season at Kansas State and is eligible for the 2022 WNBA draft because she will turn 22 in August.

Kansas State is third in the Big 12 with a 15-4 record. Iowa State and Oklahoma lead the conference with 16-2 and 16-3 records, respectively.

The Wildcats will be back in action Wednesday against the Texas Longhorns.  

Muffet McGraw is retired, but the rivalry between her and Connecticut women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma remains alive and well.

McGraw, who won two national titles at Notre Dame, told Kate Fagan and Jessica Smetana on the Off the Looking Glass podcast (via ESPN.com's Mechelle Voepel) that ESPN was "Connecticut's network" and that the network displays a bias toward the Huskies.

Auriemma responded Monday, per the Hartford Courant's Alexa Philippou:

He proceeded to lay the sarcasm on thick:

While Notre Dame's first title under McGraw came in 2001, her feud with Auriemma began really picking up steam when the Fighting Irish became regulars in the Final Four. They played UConn in the national semifinals or championship game in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019.

A competitive rivalry is bound to emerge between two schools standing in each other's way of a national championship. According to McGraw, the dynamic went deeper than that.

"We don’t have a relationship," she said in 2014. "I think that got lost. When we were in the same conference, I think there was a modicum of it, but I think after beating them and not feeling any respect from that, we lost something." 

With regard to her recent comments, there's no question UConn's success is a major determinant in the level of attention it receives. Winning 11 titles and having a slew of Hall of Famers walk through your doors affords you plenty of privileges and a major spotlight.

For those outside of the UConn bubble, though, McGraw was probably preaching to the choir. It's not all that different from how sports fans believe any major outlet favors sports franchises from marquee markets such as Los Angeles or New York and only wants to cover a handful of top athletes.

The scrutiny toward the influence of Auriemma and UConn is particularly evident within the context of the United States national team.

Auriemma was an assistant coach for the U.S. in the 2000 Olympics and the head coach for the 2012 and 2016 Games. 

Candace Parker told Bleacher Report's Taylor Rooks in November how she thought she was omitted from the 2016 team because "I don't think Geno wanted me on the team."

Auriemma was no longer the coach leading up to the 2021 Summer Olympics. His position on the selection committee became a point of conversation, though, after Nneka Ogwumike wasn't selected for the final roster.

Connecticut had five alumni make the cut: Sue Bird, Tina Charles, Napheesa Collier, Breanna Stewart and Diana Taurasi. Taurasi was a contentious inclusion because she had missed a portion of the 2021 WNBA season due to a fractured sternum.

Parker didn't call out Auriemma specifically but called the situation "bulls--t" and alluded to internal politics within USA Basketball:

Auriemma brushed the criticism aside, and it's abundantly clear he's not afraid to voice his opinion about the perception of bias toward UConn.

The South Carolina women's basketball team is no longer undefeated.

The Missouri Tigers defeated the Gamecocks 70-69 in overtime during Thursday's SEC showdown in front of more than 6,000 fans:

Lauren Hansen's layup in the final seconds gave the Tigers the lead for good and propelled them to a 12-2 record on the campaign. South Carolina fell to 12-1 with its first loss of the season.

Alexa Philippou of the Hartford Courant noted it was Missouri's first win over a No. 1 team in program history.

It was all the more impressive because the victors were missing star player Aijha Blackwell and had just seven players available. Hansen (21 points and seven rebounds) and Hayley Frank (21 points) picked up the scoring slack for the short-handed squad.

LaDazhia Williams also notched a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds while helping counter South Carolina's strong frontcourt.

Aliyah Boston spearheaded the effort for the Gamecocks with her own double-double of 17 points and 12 boards.

South Carolina is still in position to compete for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA women's tournament despite the loss, while Missouri will remain a factor in the SEC if Thursday's conference opener was any indication.

Next up for the Gamecocks is a matchup with LSU on Jan. 6, while the Tigers will look to build on this signature win when they face Vanderbilt on Sunday.          

While the omicron variant of COVID-19 has led to spikes in positive tests, canceled and postponed games, and unavailable players across the sports world, the NCAA does not plan on making any adjustments to its men's and women's basketball tournaments.

The NCAA announced it plans on holding the tournaments in March and April at the scheduled locations instead of going to a bubble like it did last year.

NCAA senior vice president in charge of basketball Dan Gavitt explained the organization's mindset, as of Wednesday:

At this point, we are continuing the planning for the NCAA basketball championships with the normal format, schedule and multiple host sites.

We are certainly closely monitoring the unfortunate and sudden COVID spike and will consider any adjustments as necessary for the health, safety and success of the championships. However, despite the current challenges we're experiencing in college basketball, the solutions to these problems during this phase of the pandemic are likely quite different than the dramatic championship format changes we had to adopt last year.

A number of sports have faced issues such as cancellations or players sidelined because of COVID, and men's college basketball is no exception.

In fact, Gary Parrish of CBS Sports noted more than 70 teams have paused this season with approximately 100 games being called off. High-profile programs such as Duke, Ohio State, Florida, Georgetown, Louisville and UConn are among the teams that have gone on pause.

It also isn't a stretch to suggest the issues will continue as players return to campus after spending time at holiday gatherings.

The NCAA men's and women's tournaments were canceled in 2020 as the pandemic was in its early stages in the United States. However, the NCAA adjusted in 2021 and created a bubble-like environment in Indianapolis for the men's competition and in San Antonio for the women's competition.

There was criticism about differences in amenities between the men and women, although both tournaments were played with Baylor's men and Stanford's women taking home the national titles.

This year's men's tournament starts with the First Four on March 15 and 16, while the women's tournament starts on March 18. The men's Final Four is in New Orleans, and the women's Final Four is in Minneapolis.  

When Dawn Staley arrived to discuss defeating Stanford 65-61, her team's greatest comeback victory in program history, she sat down and put her gray Havanese dog Champ on the table right beside her. Staley and her team were at home, and Champ appearing beside her was par for the course.

A total of 13,079 people were reported in attendance at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina, for one of the most anticipated matchups of the 2021-22 season. It was also a rematch of the 2021 women's Final Four between Staley's Gamecocks and Tara VanDerveer's defending national champion Stanford Cardinal. VanDerveer's squad came out on top last April, defeating the Gamecocks 66-65 to move onto the national championship game.

When Staley was asked about the attendance number and how the crowd was able to help will her team back from an 18-point deficit, she replied: "Who accounted for the 3,000 people that snuck in? Because it looked like a little more than that."

She remarked that the showing Tuesday night was electric and remembered seeing a social media post before the game that said the matchup was going to be "an experience that you've never heard before in a gym."

"There was no lie told," Staley said in response to that fan's post.

That energy, obsessive fandom and loaded roster from top to bottom is what Staley has built in her 14 years as the head coach. And her team's come-from-behind victory against the defending champs was representative of the juggernaut she has built.

The Gamecocks have the potential to enter the postseason undefeated, and they just proved exactly why. Staley's team continues to show that it's elite and the favorite to win the national championship.

Staley's Major Adjustment on Defense

In the first half, Stanford's offense was in sync. The Cardinal scored 21 points in each quarter and shot over 47 percent in both quarters as well. Lexie Hull scored 14 points in the first out of her 17 total, and the Cardinal hit six of their seven threes.

Staley noted that in the first half the Cardinal caught the ball where they wanted and moved it around at will. Stanford's Princeton-style offense spread the floor, got everyone involved and was free-flowing. When there was an open lane, point forwards and wings Lexie and Lacie Hull and Haley Jones made the right reads.

Going into the third quarter, the Gamecocks needed to adjust and try to expose Stanford's main weakness: its lack of a traditional point guard. Their biggest adjustment in the third was denying any pass going into the high post. Once the Gamecocks were all on the same page in denying that initial entry pass to begin each of Stanford's offensive sets, South Carolina was able to string together multiple stops, turnovers and plays in transition in a row.

Point guard Destanni Henderson, playing in her first game since November after sitting out because of a left leg injury, led the Gamecocks' defensive intensity in the second half. She had seven steals in addition to her 17 points and a game-high seven assists. With 24 seconds left and Stanford down by one, Staley made sure that Henderson was on the Cardinal's main ball-handler in point-forward Jones.

"We certainly wanted Henny in the position of playing under [Jones], making her play a little bit faster and bother her a little bit," Staley said after the game. "And I thought we just, you know, we wanted that matchup. Everybody else could have matched up however they needed to match up, but for that one, Henny was the one that's gonna bring it home and make a play."

With five seconds left after Aliyah Boston's 1-of-2 trip at the line gave the Gamecocks a 63-60 lead, Staley's sharp anticipation stymied Stanford. After the timeout, she instructed Zia Cooke to foul Cameron Brink once she got the ball before she could set a screen for stretch post Ashten Prechtel to get off a three. The foul sent the sophomore to the line, where she only made one free throw before Francesca Belibi committed a lane violation.

Staley put on a coaches clinic throughout.

How South Carolina Landed Its Best Team Potentially Ever

VanDerveer noted in her postgame presser that she felt like her team could have done a better job on the offensive glass, as the Cardinal were outrebounded 18-11.

"You know, I thought our defense was pretty good," she said. "You know, we gave up some baskets that we shouldn't, but, you know, Boston's very tough in there. And we got hurt on the O-boards. We didn't do a good enough job on the O-boards. We need to be more aggressive."

Stanford actually outrebounded South Carolina 40-38, but it wasn't enough, and the best offensive rebounding team in the country stayed true to its identity. So how did the Gamecocks become so effective on the offensive glass? How is this what they are known for?

First and foremost, they are deep. In addition to superstar center Boston, South Carolina has 6'7" Kamilla Cardoso, 6'2" Victaria Saxton (who had 10 rebounds against the Cardinal) and larger guards in 6'4" Laeticia Amihere and 6'1" Brea Beal.

How does Staley work her magic? How does she get some of the most talented recruits to bet on her and South Carolina? Dating back to the days of WNBA superstar A'ja Wilson's time with the Gamecocks, Staley has had a way of connecting to potential recruits. She's able to form a maternal bond with them that goes beyond the court.

"I remember telling my parents, 'Coach Staley has gone through everything that I want to go through,'" Wilson told ESPN's Katie Barnes earlier this year.

Women's basketball analyst Debbie Antonelli provided some insight as to how Staley also captured the hearts of fans in the community. "I think Coach Staley is a brilliant teacher and a role model," she said, according to Cleopatra Shabazz of the Carolina News & Reporter. "Somebody you'd want your daughter to play for. Not just what you're going to learn on the court but the lessons she's going to teach you off the court."

Wilson, meanwhile, is far from the only former South Carolina player currently in the W or drafted, which includes Alaina Coates, Kaela Davis, Allisha Gray, Mikiah "Kiki" Herbert Harrigan and Tyasha Harris. That core group of players gave Staley a formula for success, which included a national championship in 2017 that Wilson and her peers brought to South Carolina.

Almost five years after the Gamecocks were the last team standing in early April, their new core, which includes Wilson's successor in Boston and a talented supporting cast of Cooke, Henderson and Amihere, appears ready to put Staley and the Gamecocks back underneath the confetti.

But a month before the season even began, South Carolina recognized who they had in Staley and the type of program she's created from the ground up. The board of trustees honored her with a new seven-year, $22.4 million contract, making her the highest-paid Black coach in women's basketball.

And Tuesday night, more history was sealed. The Gamecocks' comeback wouldn't have been possible without the support and guidance from their coach.

"It is pretty cool to be a part of that history," Saxton said after the game when asked about what this win means to the program. "I just feel like, you know, without the coach that we got, we wouldn't be able to go out there and handle business like we did."

After losing two of their past three games, the Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team has fallen out of the Top 10 in the Associated Press rankings for the first time since 2005. 

In the latest AP Top 25 poll released Monday, the Huskies dropped four spots to No. 11. South Carolina (11-0) remained in the top spot and received all 29 first-place votes. 

Women's College Basketball 2021 AP Top 25 Poll (Week 7)

1. South Carolina (11-0)

2. Stanford (8-2)

3. Louisville (10-1)

4. Arizona (10-0)

5. North Carolina State (11-2)

6. Maryland (9-3)

7. Tennessee (9-1)

8. Indiana (9-2)

9. Michigan (11-1)

10. Baylor (9-2)

11. Connecticut (6-3)

12. Texas (8-1)

T13. Iowa State (11-1)

T13. Georgia (10-1)

15. Iowa (6-2)

16. Duke (9-1)

17. Georgia Tech (9-2)

18. South Florida (8-3)

19. BYU (9-1)

20. Notre Dame (10-2)

21. LSU (9-1)

22. Kentucky (7-3)

23. Texas A&M (9-2)

24. Ohio State (8-2)

25. North Carolina (10-0)

According to the Associated Press (via ESPN.com), Connecticut spent a record 313 consecutive weeks ranked in the Top 10 dating back to March 7, 2005. 

No. 10 Baylor now holds the longest active streak of consecutive weeks in the top 10 at 136. 

Connecticut announced Dec. 14 that Paige Bueckers, the reigning AP Player of the Year, is expected to miss eight weeks after undergoing surgery to repair an anterior tibial plateau fracture and lateral meniscus tear. 

She suffered the injury in the final minute of a Dec. 5 win over Notre Dame. 

In six games with Bueckers, the Huskies were 5-1 and averaged 62.3 points per game. They are averaging 59.7 points per game and have lost two of three games without the superstar sophomore. 

While head coach Geno Auriemma looks to find answers for UConn, Dawn Staley is doing everything right with South Carolina right now. The Gamecocks already have three wins over top-16 opponents: Connecticut, Duke, Maryland. 

This week will present a significant challenge for South Carolina. It will host No. 2 Stanford on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET. The reigning national champions have won four straight games, including a 74-63 victory over Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday.     

The UConn women's basketball team will be without arguably the best player in the nation for the foreseeable future.

The school announced Paige Bueckers underwent surgery Monday to address an anterior tibial plateau fracture and lateral meniscus tear she suffered during a win over Notre Dame on Dec. 5.

She is expected to be out for eight weeks, which would put her on track for a return in February before the season's stretch run and the NCAA tournament.

The Huskies improved to 5-1 with the win over the Fighting Irish, although they are just 1-1 without Bueckers.

They lost by 13 points to Georgia Tech before defeating UCLA without their star player. It won't get any easier with a showdown against No. 6 Louisville on Sunday, and they also play No. 1 South Carolina on Jan. 27 and No. 7 Tennessee on Feb. 6.

UConn lost to the Gamecocks by 16 points in November when Bueckers was on the floor, so winning the rematch without her is a daunting proposition.

The sophomore guard is averaging 21.2 points, 6.2 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game through six games this season. She is also shooting a blistering 56.3 percent from the field, although her three-point percentage is 31.0 after shooting 46.4 percent last season.

Bueckers helped lead the Huskies to the Final Four as a freshman, and her individual brilliance is likely the storied program's best chance at taking home its 12th national championship.

For now, UConn will look to tread water with a number of high-profile showdowns looming while its star player is sidelined.             

Georgia Southern fell 11 points of making history Monday.

The Eagles' women's basketball team beat Carver College 133-15 at Hanner Fieldhouse in Statesboro, Georgia, recording the second-biggest margin of victory in Division I history.

"Hats off to Carver, this is one of our non-DI opponents," head coach Anita Howard said of the performance. "So I talked to our kids about focusing on what we do. When you go to work, you do your job. Our job is to defend, rebound and run. We have to do this kind of defensive effort against a Kennesaw, against a Bethune-Cookman coming up. We challenge them to do every game."

The Carver men's team gained fame during the 2020-21 season when it scheduled a number of Division I opponents as schools were scrambling to find opponents amid the COVID-19 pandemic. That resulted in the kind of lopsided scores the women's squad suffered Monday.

The Cougars shot 6-of-49 as a team and went scoreless (0-of-12) in the second quarter. They also committed 49 turnovers and were nearly doubled up in rebounds (55 to 28).

Georgia Southern, meanwhile, saw 14 different players score. Three of those players outscored Carver on their own.

Nobody from the Eagles' starting five logged more than 15 minutes, which allowed for the bench to combine for 88 points. Rachel Johnson led the way with 18 points and Constance Thomas dropped in 17. Daeja Holmes finished one assist shy of a double-double (12 points, nine assists).

Connecticut women's basketball star Paige Bueckers is considering knee surgery that would keep her out longer than original estimates. 

Head coach Geno Auriemma told reporters on Saturday that Bueckers is going to "solicit a couple other opinions" before deciding whether or not to have surgery to repair her tibial plateau fracture. 

"And then the next step is there's either going to be surgery or there's not going to be surgery," Auriemma added. "And that's gotta happen relatively soon. Yes or no."

The Huskies announced on Tuesday that Bueckers would miss six to eight weeks. 

Bueckers was injured late in the second half of UConn's 73-54 win over Notre Dame on Dec. 5. 

While dribbling the ball, her left leg buckled. She passed the ball to a teammate before collapsing on the court. Teammates and coaches carried her to the locker room. 

Dr. Jessica Flynn, who provides injury analysis for the Boston Sports Journal, added context for the type of injury Bueckers suffered:

Former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant suffered a similar injury during the 2013-14 season that was expected to keep him out for six weeks. He didn't undergo surgery but was unable to return before the end of the season. 

Bueckers, the reigning Associated Press and Naismith Player of the Year winner, was averaging 21.2 points, 6.2 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game in six starts this season. 

Dorka Juhasz has been inserted into the starting lineup with Bueckers on the shelf. The Hungary native scored a season-high 16 points on 5-of-5 shooting and grabbed 16 rebounds in Saturday's 71-61 win over UCLA. 

The Huskies are ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll with a 6-2 record.