This is a look at the week ahead in women's college basketball. Each week Skim Milkey will be providing five players to keep an eye on, five teams to watch this week, five stats, five games you wouldn't think to keep tabs on, and five tweets.
5 Players I Have My Eye On
Raven Johnson
Johnson has been pretty good for South Carolina in her career, but this year she has absolutely ascended into another level. She has a career-best offensive rating, she's increased both her effective field goal percentage and true shooting percentage by nearly 10 percent each, she has the best turnover percentage of her career, and she's averaging a career high from behind the arc. She has been the steady presence that has kept South Carolina afloat at times this season. This upcoming week she's going to face off with more talent as they face Vanderbilt (Mikayla Blakes and Aubrey Galvan) and Oklahoma (Aaliyah Chavez). Johnson will surely rise to the occasion and try to lead the Gamecocks to two more wins.
Grace Arnolie
Brown has continued to get better as Arnolie has gotten more comfortable after missing the first three games of the year. She's scored 21 or more points in five of the last six games after starting her year off by scoring more than 14 points just once in the first four games. She's a playmaker with the ball in her hands, as she shows the ability to either score it or get it to a teammate for an easy shot. As Brown has gotten into Ivy League play, it only seems that she has stepped up her game, as she's averaging 24 points a game while playing over 36 minutes per game. Brown has a game against Columbia and Princeton this week and will need Arnolie to be at her best to pull two upsets.
Paris Bradley
After a conference opening loss, Louisiana Tech has rattled off four wins in a row, putting them in great shape for a run at a Conference USA crown. They are tied in the loss column with three other teams, and they have a big week ahead. Bradley has done a great job in the conference slate of being someone who has proven herself to be reliable. She's played her best basketball in the past week, with her lowest offensive rating being 136.2. In that span, she's also put forward a 31-point outburst in a win over Liberty. Missouri State has two tough upcoming games with Missouri State and FIU, so Bradley will need to be at her best to win.
Delaney Gibb
Gibb has recently returned after missing eight games this season due to an injury. After taking a few games to get back up to speed, her game has quickly ascended back to being what BYU had hoped. Over the past four games, Gibb has scored more than 18 points a game in each while dishing off 19 total assists in that same span. Her return to the team happened right as conference play got underway, and now Gibb is back fully healthy. She is a huge spark on the floor with her ability to score it and rebound it on both ends. She'll need to get comfortable in a hurry as BYU faces both West Virginia and Texas Tech over the next week.
Kadida Toure
LIU sits in second in the NEC, and a lot of that success can be attributed to Toure. She has scored 20 or more points in eight of her 14 games this season and, at her size, just seems to grab every rebound that comes her way. She is extremely efficient with her touches and has shown the ability to knock down shots from the outside. Her game is good enough that you can run the ball through her for points, and LIU has shown a willingness to get her a touch nearly every time down the floor. She has taken her game to a completely new level this year after transferring from Arizona State. LIU has a tough week ahead after hosting both Wagner and Stonehill.
5 Teams to Watch This Week
Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt has a huge opportunity this week to notch three huge wins for their program. They've been playing great this year as one of the only two unbeaten teams left, but this week they see their toughest week yet. They open up the week on Monday with a matchup with a 15-2 Michigan team that has played very well this season. Then, on Thursday, they host Auburn, a team who just knocked off a ranked Alabama team, proving that they can't be looked past. On Sunday, they travel to South Carolina, which will likely be the best team they face all season. If they go 3-0 in this stretch, it would be an incredible feat.
Iowa State
Iowa State has lost five games in a row after a 14-0 start to the season. They did not have an offensive efficiency below 108.0 through their last five games; their highest offensive efficiency has been 95.0. With injuries playing a huge role, Iowa State just needs to notch a pair of wins this week, no matter how pretty or ugly it looks. They host Cincinnati this upcoming week as well as hosting Arizona. Both of these games are going to need to be wins, or the outlook for making the NCAA Tournament could dampen mightily at this point in the season.
Ball State
This is a fairly important week for Ball State as they hunt for a MAC regular season title. They start their week by hosting the team that is just behind them in the MAC standings, UMass. This will be a game that both teams aren't going to want to lose because it's the only meeting between the two teams this season. This weekend, they will host Miami (OH). Ball State and Miami (OH) are tied at the top of the conference with identical 6-0 records, so a sweep this week by Ball State will put them firmly in control.
Montana State
Montana State has a critical stretch of games coming up in the next two weeks, and if they make it through unscathed, then they'll have an excellent chance of winning the conference, especially if everyone else in the conference drops at least one more game. This week, they play Northern Colorado, who is currently second in the Big Sky. They travel to Idaho State on Thursday for a big matchup with the fourth-place team in the conference. They end their week with a game against Weber State. If Montana State can pull off a 3-0 week, then they will be sitting in good shape with a tough game on the road at Idaho in early February to likely clinch the conference title, assuming that they just take care of business.
Murray State
Murray State has put themselves in a great spot through the first third of conference play. They are the sole leader in the Missouri Valley right now at 7-0 and will be traveling to take on 5-2 Northern Iowa later in the week. This is a huge game for Murray State because they can both put some additional room between them and Murray State, but also they will stay ahead of Belmont in the standings after beating them this past week. They also play at Drake this week, which is not as tough of a game as it has been in years past, but they will still need to make sure they don't slip up.
5 Stats to Know
1
UCLA now holds the top spot for adjusted offensive efficiency this year after facing off with two tough defenses. Both Minnesota and Maryland were both in the top 30 in defensive efficiency, and UCLA easily scored 76 and 97 points against them, respectively. UCLA's offense is clicking on all cylinders and has overtaken UConn for the best offense in the country for now.
2 and 4
Generally, if you are a good 3-point shooting team, you want to take as many shots from the arc as you can. And generally if you're taking a lot of them, you want to make a lot of them. Fairfield is doing both at an extremely high level. They are second in the country in 3-point attempt rate at 52.3% of their shots, while they are fourth in 3-point percentage at 39.5%. Fairfield has the best of both worlds right now, and they can knock down 10 or more threes on a nightly basis.
45.7
North Carolina A&T is getting to the free throw line at an astounding rate as they lead the country in free throw rate at 45.7. They are making it their goal to get to the line as much as they possibly can and are attempting nearly 18 free throws per game this season. They are only shooting 64 percent from the line though on the season.
166
Tonie Morgan has by far the most assists in the country this season, as she's already dished off 166 assists in 19 games. She is averaging nearly nine assists per contest this year, and that is 28 more than the next closest player in the country. Morgan has insane playmaking ability and puts it on display every single night.
99 and 21
Here's a random fact from this season. Maryland has given up the most points by a Top 10 team against an unranked team when they gave up 99 to Minnesota in that thriller earlier this season. They've also allowed the least amount of points by a Top 10 team against an unranked team when they only gave up 21 points to Delaware State in December. Hilariously, the two games were just three days apart.
5 Games to Monitor
1/19 - Ohio State vs. TCU
As part of the Coretta Scott King Classic, Ohio State and TCU will be facing off in a rare non-conference game in January. Both teams come into the game in somewhat of a streak, as Ohio State has won five of their last six and TCU has won four of their last five. Both teams have primarily played very well this year, and this is going to be another true test on a neutral court in New Jersey before they head back to their conference slate.
1/21 - Minnesota @ Oregon
It's hard to label a January game as a "must win," but for both of these programs, they really need a win. Minnesota sits at 3-4 in the Big Ten and has lost their last two games. Their best win of the season is a USC win at home when they didn't have Kennedy Smith. Oregon has played a gauntlet of a Big Ten slate so far and will come into this game on a three-game losing streak after losing three heartbreakers in a row. Both of these teams need to win this game or could potentially force themselves into needing to play perfect basketball the last month of the season.
1/21 - Davidson @ Rhode Island
The Atlantic 10 is highly competitive, and this will be a big matchup between Rhode Island (7-0) and Davidson (6-1). Rhode Island has won 10 games in a row and can hurt you in a multitude of ways. They are playing suffocating defense and will try to see if one of the better offenses in the conference can crack the code. Neither team will try to get out and run, so expect this to be a slow-paced game with every possession valued.
1/22 - Gonzaga @ Oregon State
Another game that is contested between two top contenders. Both of these teams are tied at the top of the WCC with identical 6-1 records in conference. Gonzaga is led by Lauren Whittaker, a freshman, who has been one of the best players in college basketball this season. Oregon State is led by Jenna Villa, a junior transfer from Washington State, who has done everything that Oregon State has needed and more. This game will be an incredible battle.
1/25 - Richmond @ George Mason
Not to be outdone by Davidson and Rhode Island, the other pair of teams who are 7-0 and 6-1 in the A10 play on Sunday. Richmond has the best offense in the conference, and they'll look to get their studs going early on against a George Mason team that rarely allows 3-pointers and is a top 50 defense in the country. Like the first A10 game on this "monitor" list, I'd highly encourage you to tune in.
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