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
Alana Nelson
Nelson has been quietly very good for a Purdue Fort Wayne teams that essentially turned over an entire roster from their team a season ago. She transferred in from Spring Arbor (NAIA) and was an All-American for the last three years there. It’s proof that if you can play, you can play, as she hasn’t missed a beat this season. She’s gotten better as the season has gone on and has become a very efficient scorer for Purdue Fort Wayne. She has notched nine games of 20 or more points and has been excellent so far in conference play. She’s proven to be capable of putting her team on her back and shouldering the load, as evidenced by a 23-point game last week in a win where she shot 9-of-12 from the floor. Purdue Fort Wayne has two games this upcoming week, and Nelson will look to help improve her team to 9-4 in conference.
Mia Pauldo
Pauldo has quietly turned into one of the best freshmen in the country over the past couple of months. She’s second on Tennessee with a 122.8 offensive rating and has done that without a high usage (fourth on the team). She has the lowest turnover rate on the team at 12.6 percent and has been the best 3-point shooter on the team this season. It seemed that once Pauldo started to get consistent minutes, she started to blossom. After scoring under 10 points on five occasions through the first seven games of the season, she’s now done that just once in the past 10 games. She’s not played under 19 minutes in a game once in the past 10 games either proving that with more time on the floor, the better she is. She’s been efficient with her touches and has done a great job of taking care of the basketball. Pauldo scored 21 points in their last game against Kentucky in a two-point win, and with a few important games on the horizon, look for Tennessee to continue to rely on the freshman heavily.
Gianna Corbitt
Corbitt is one of the most effective players that you’ve likely never heard about. She’s averaging 14.4 points and 8.6 rebounds this year for Chattanooga and has been a double-double machine. She’s grabbed double-digit rebounds in each of the past seven games and has scored no less than seven points in any of those contests. She started the year off scoring the ball at a very high clip but has since tapered off her scoring and is doing a bit of everything on the floor. Corbitt is a big reason for that as the best shooter on the team, the best rebounder, and is the only player on the team with an offensive rating over 98.7 (she’s at 111.4). Chattanooga is a perfect 5-0 in conference so far this season and is projected to be favored in every game the rest of the way. It’s clear that this team goes as she goes, and if Corbitt continues to play this well the rest of the season, Chattanooga is set up to play meaningful games in March.
Raven Thompson
Thompson is having the best year of her career for Clemson and has continually come up big for them in games this season. She has ascended quite a bit since the turn of the calendar, as she has scored in double figures each ACC game besides one in 2026. After scoring in double figures just twice in the first 14 games of the season, she’s turned a corner. She came up huge against Miami (FL) as she put up 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting while also having an important 14-point and four-assist performance against NC State in a win. She isn’t the best player on this Clemson roster, but she might be one of the most important with her ability to get buckets when her team needs them. Clemson has a quartet of players who can be relied upon this season, and Thompson is certainly one of them in her senior season.
Emilee Fox
Fox might be the best shooter in college basketball who no one knows. The South Dakota State sharpshooter is making 59 percent of her shots from behind the line and is taking over three per game. She was hurt for a month, so she lost a chunk of the season, but in her return game against Oral Roberts, she went 5-of-8 from behind the line and scored 17 points. At this point, most of her points come from the arc, but she’s been making almost everything that she shoots. She hasn’t missed a free throw this year (8-of-8) and does an excellent job of just not turning the ball over. With an assist rate of 59 percent on her makes from behind the arc, it’s obvious that she isn’t just a catch-and-shoot player. South Dakota State relies on her a few times a game to rise up and take shots, and she obliges. The craziest part of the whole thing is that she’s only had an offensive rating below 133.7 three times this season. Fox is going to be a key piece down the stretch for a South Dakota State team who will be fighting for a bid to the NCAA tournament.
5 Teams to Watch This Week
Colorado State
The Mountain West is going to be a battle until the end to win it, and Colorado State can make the future of the conference even murkier with two wins this week. Colorado State sits in third place with an 8-2 record so far this season. They have two games this week, and both happen to be against the teams that are in front of them in the standings. San Diego State is 9-0 this year in the Mountain West, and Colorado State faces off with them on Wednesday. They head on the road Saturday to take on UNLV, who is second in the conference at 9-1 on the year. If the Rams can go 2-0 this week, then that would do wonders for their chances to win the conference this year, but drop both games and they would nearly need a miracle to clinch a share of a regular season title.
Georgetown
Georgetown started Big East play this year a little shaky, as they got off to a 2-5 start in conference while not looking overly great in non-conference play either. Things changed after they beat Butler on the road, though, as since that point they've gone 4-2 in conference play and now sit with a record of 5-6 while notching wins over Marquette and St. John's, and those two were pretty decisive wins at that. Now, all eyes are on Georgetown to see if they can continue the momentum after picking up a few big wins the past few weeks. They are hosting both Seton Hall and Marquette this week in big barometer games for the program. They lost to Seton Hall decisively earlier in the season, while they beat Marquette on the road already this year. Two competitive games this week would be great for Georgetown.
UC Santa Barbara
UC Santa Barbara has managed to start the conference season at 7-2 with a solid win over UC Davis, but the road forward doesn't get any easier. Seven of the remaining 11 conference games are against teams in the top 200 per Bart Torvik. Thus far, UC Santa Barbara has faced just three such teams in conference play. Their schedule is getting harder, and they are going to need to continue to grab wins against these opponents because it doesn't seem like the teams at the top of the conference are slowing down at all. They'll get to give themselves a good measuring stick this week as they face off with co-leader UC San Diego in one game and then take on Cal State Fullerton, who is just behind them in the standings. UC Santa Barbara has a big chance to win a few important games this week.
Lindenwood
Lindenwood has its work cut out this week as they prepare to play a pair of road games in the conference. They'll first take on Southern Indiana, who they've already beaten once this year. If Lindenwood can manufacture a win on the road, then that would be a huge boost to Lindenwood's chances to win the regular season title. They also face off against Morehead State on the road, which is not going to be an easy task. Morehead State did hand Lindenwood a loss this year already on the road this season. This is a game that you can be sure that they are looking to get back in the win column against Morehead State.
Kansas State
Kansas State has continued their trend of playing inconsistent basketball this season, but you have to remember that this is a very young team, so going through growing pains is going to happen. It seems like after each win, Kansas State has struggled to put two great games together in a row. They have two games that they could easily lose this week, but they have just as much chance to win each of the games with how they've played this season. They take on Colorado this week and then travel to Arizona to see Arizona State. Once again, this is a week where Kansas State could either notch two wins or lose back-to-back times for the first time since November 28th.
5 Stats to Know
1
There is only one remaining unbeaten team in the country. UConn stands alone at the top with a 21-0 record. Vanderbilt was the last team to fall from the unbeaten ranks as they lost to South Carolina on Sunday. UConn is undefeated, and it's anyone's guess as to how long they can keep the streak going for.
15.2%
This is the turnover percentage on the offensive side of the ball for both Santa Clara and Texas. This is the best mark in college basketball right now, and both teams are playing winning basketball. It's tough to beat teams who don't turn the ball over, and that's evident by Santa Clara and Texas' combined record of 36-7 this season.
16
This is the number of games that Texas A&M has played thus far this season. Nothing in particular really sticks out about this, but it is the lowest number of games played by a D1 team this season. They only played nine non-conference games, which certainly didn't help their overall game improve. They have nine games to go this year, which will put them at 25 total games on the season by the end of the year.
17
With a 40-point game by four different players this past week, the number of 40+ point games by individual players rises to 17 total on the season thus far. Audi Crooks is still the only player to record multiple 40+ point games this season, as she's done it three separate times this year.
20
There have been 20 instances this season of a team turning the ball over 30 or more times and still winning the game. This stat came to my mind after Presbyterian turned the ball over 31 times this past week against Gardner-Webb and still won the game, 50-46. Despite the 20 wins when turning the ball over, it has been proven that it is much more likely to lose with 30+ turnovers, as teams are a combined 20-114 in such games this season.
5 Games to Monitor
1/28 - George Mason @ Davidson
It's an incredibly important week of games for a myriad of teams in the Atlantic 10, but potentially none more important than this one for both of these teams. George Mason sits at 8-0 in conference play this season and is just one game behind Rhode Island in the win column. This is the only meeting of the year between these two teams, so it's an extremely important one for George Mason to win on the road. Davidson is sitting at 7-2 in conference and will need to win the rest of their games this season to have a shot at winning the regular season conference title. They have a tough road forward, but if they play to their potential, they certainly can go on a run. This game looms large in the Atlantic 10 race.
1/29 - Quinnipiac @ Fairfield
Unlike the Atlantic 10, which has four teams vying for a conference title, the MAAC just has two, and they play on Thursday night for the first time this season. Both Quinnipiac and Fairfield are an identical 11-0 in conference and are going to see each other twice this season. Fairfield gets the first game at home, which gives them a bit of a leg up on Quinnipiac. If Quinnipiac can come in and steal a game on the road, it gives them a huge boost of confidence while forcing Fairfield to go on the road and beat them later in the season. This will be a fantastic game between two of the best mid-majors in the country.
1/29 - Idaho @ Northern Colorado
Idaho seems like the team that is in the best position to take the Big Sky title away from Montana State. Idaho sits at second in the conference with a 6-1 record and is just one game in the win column behind Montana State. Northern Colorado lost to Montana State last week and will need this game to stay in the Big Sky race. If they fall to Idaho, they'll likely need to win out and have some other things fall their way as well. Other than the conference implications, this game should be an excellent battle between two teams who are exceptionally fun to watch.
1/30 - Columbia @ Princeton
The top of the Ivy League is once again a battle between a few very tough teams. Princeton is currently at the top of the conference with a 5-0 record, and Columbia is right behind them with a 4-1 record. If Princeton is able to pull this game off, it would give them a two-game lead in the Ivy with eight games to go. Beating Columbia, Harvard, and Brown in consecutive fashion would go a long way to giving them the upper hand in the conference. Columbia, on the other hand, has been playing some of their best basketball recently, and they have proven to have the offense to be able to score points. Columbia is very much in the race for the conference title, and if they can knock off Princeton in their first meeting, it will only open up the race for the Ivy League even more.
2/1 - Iowa @ UCLA
Iowa and UCLA are the two lone teams unbeaten (at this point) in the Big Ten conference. UCLA was a bit more of a known commodity coming into the year with a very senior-laden class that has tasted success. They've only continued to prove it this season, as they are 19-1 on the season and 9-0 in conference. They have yet to play their three toughest tests of the year, with Iowa up first. Iowa has been a bit of a surprise this year with how quickly and seamlessly they've gelled together on the floor. Similar to UCLA, their toughest matchups in the Big Ten are still to come, starting with the West Coast swing this week for them. Iowa seems like the Swiss army knife of the conference with their ability to beat you in multiple ways. If Iowa can pull the upset in this game on the road, they'll put the country on high alert. If UCLA takes care of business at home, they'll likely be in line to win the Big Ten by multiple games.
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