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
Madison St. Rose
St. Rose has been everything that Princeton has needed, and more, to start the year. Last season, she only played in four games due to injury, and this year she has come back with a vengeance. She's scoring 18.1 points per game to start the season and has grabbed 5.7 rebounds and dished off 2.6 assists per contest too. St. Rose has done all of this while having a usage rate of 23.8%, which is fairly low for her production. In Princeton's games against Top-50 quality opponents, her turnover percentage is 7.2%, which is the lowest mark of her career. Princeton takes on Seton Hall and Belmont this week, and St. Rose has an opportunity to lead her team to two very good wins.
Lauren Whittaker
Despite Gonzaga being 4-4 on the season, they've had a few bright spots. One of those bright spots is this redshirt freshman. She leads the team in both scoring and rebounding while commanding a high usage rate. She can step out and knock down shots from the perimeter (11-of-29 from the arc) and can score on the inside. She does a great job of rebounding on the defensive glass, as she pulls down 31.2% of all misses for her team. Whittaker produces against some of the best talent that Gonzaga has faced this season, as she put up a double-double against both South Dakota State and Marquette while scoring 29 points against Colorado State. Gonzaga will face both Grand Canyon and UC Davis this week, providing Whittaker with a few more tough tests this year.
Dani Carnegie
Carnegie has gotten off to a blazing hot start for Georgia this year, and as the calendar turns to December, she sits atop the leaderboard for made 3-pointers this year with 31 so far. She is 31-for-63 from behind the arc to start the season and looks extremely solid shooting the ball. 67.7% of her 3-point makes are assisted; thus, roughly 32% are not, proving that she's a multi-dimensional shooter who can create for herself around the perimeter. Carnegie is a huge reason why Georgia has gotten off to a 9-0 start to the year. Georgia faces off with Florida State this week, which will be their toughest task this season, and Carnegie will need to continue her shooting streak to give her team the best chance to win.
Claudia Acin
Despite missing two games this year, Acin has been on a tear for Liberty and holds the highest assist percentage in the country at 52.9%. Her offensive rating sits at 131.9, which is elite at this point in the season. While she is averaging seven assists a game, she's also scoring 11.7 points a game, making herself a versatile offensive threat. Acin is shooting a blazing 62.5% from behind the arc and is averaging over three makes per game. Liberty will rely upon her quite a lot this season, and they have a tough road test against George Mason on Sunday.
Avery Koenen
Koenen quietly has been one of the best players in college basketball this season. She is averaging 17.6 points a game and grabbing 9.0 rebounds a contest, all while tied for the highest field goal percentage in college basketball at 72.6%. She is 30-for-36 on shots at the rim and has a true shooting percentage of 72.0%. Koenen isn't simply playing well on the offensive side of the floor; she's dominating. She's an effective defender with her size, making life tough on the opposing team, though that is tough to quantify simply looking at statistics. North Dakota State will face off with Montana State and Weber State this upcoming week, and Koenen will have to have solid performances if they want to get through the week 2-0.
5 Teams to Watch This Week
Villanova
Villanova has a big week ahead as they face their toughest opponent of the season as they travel to West Virginia. They also will start Big East conference play as they go on the road to face off with Georgetown. Villanova's two losses this season have been to Fairfield and Princeton, two very likely NCAA tournament teams. This is an important week for Villanova as they look to start off the month of December well.
Illinois State
Missouri Valley Conference play starts this week, and Illinois State opens on the road at Northern Iowa. After dropping their last three games, Illinois State is going to be looking to right the ship a bit as they open their conference slate. They will also host Eastern Illinois this week and will attempt to sweep their schedule this week and create some momentum as they roll into conference play.
Duke
This is the most important week of the season for Duke, and they must avoid going 0-2. It will not be easy, as they host LSU and then travel to Virginia Tech to begin ACC play. Duke sits at 3-5 to start the year and has lost three of their last four while being rather uncompetitive in those games. It's been a tough start to the season for Duke, but they have a real chance to either save their season this week or lose it completely.
Utah State
Sitting at 3-3 on the season so far, Utah State has quite a bit of the season in front of them. Their three losses have been to top-100 quality opponents, and now the schedule starts to get a bit easier. Loyola Marymount is first on the schedule this week for Utah State as they look to notch a win to gain some momentum. On their road trip, they then will face San Diego in a very winnable game for Utah State as they prepare for their conference slate.
UC Davis
UC Davis has a chance to make a statement this week as they play both Hawaii and Gonzaga. They have started the season well, sitting at 6-2 as they head into their conference schedule. Gonzaga poses a good test over the weekend, while their first Big West game isn't going to be an easy test either. UC Davis has a chance to have a very special week as they look to spur an upset on the road against Gonzaga and start conference play 1-0 against Hawaii.
5 Stats to Know
162.2
Emma Shumate of Michigan State has the best offensive rating in college basketball for players who have played more than 18 minutes per game. She has done an excellent job of making the right play, as she has not turned the ball over yet this year. She is also shooting 48% from the perimeter, making her a threat whenever she is on the floor.
13.7%
NC State is the best team in the country at not sending their opponents to the free throw line, as their defensive free throw rate is a measly 13.7%. This is due to multiple reasons, but having a solid defensive post player on the inside is a big reason that NC State has been able to keep their opponents off the line.
81.3
The fastest team in the country is Troy. They are playing at a pace of 81.3 possessions per game, which is over a possession a game ahead of the team in second. They have been successful in doing so with a record of 7-1 so far this season. Troy is going to look to play even faster as they start to enter conference play.
77
Briana Rivera has gotten up the most 3-pointers in college basketball, as she's hoisted up 77 attempts thus far. She is shooting it well at a high volume, as she's made 28 of them, which is good for 36% from the perimeter. The Samford guard shot 22 in a single game this year and connected on eight of them.
6
This is the number of 40+ point outbursts this season by a single player. Audi Crooks was the most recent to accomplish this with a season-high 47 points on November 30th, which was the second time she's gone over the 40-point mark. Zahirah Walton and S'Mya Nichols both scored 40+ points on November 28th, while Alexis Black scored 42 points on November 20th. Crooks scored 43 points on November 12th, and Hannah Hidalgo scored 44 points on the same day.
5 Games to Monitor
12/3 - Tennessee @ Stanford
Tennessee has not quite gotten their footing yet this season, but it feels like the 'click' is coming at any point. They have another tough foe in Stanford this week as they look to notch their first Quad 1 win of the season on the road. Stanford is in the same boat as Tennessee, where they sit at 8-1, but their loss was to Florida Gulf Coast. This is the first real test for Stanford, and they'll want to defend home court against a fast-paced squad.
12/3 - Rhode Island @ Saint Joseph's
Conference play in the Atlantic 10 starts this week, and what better game will we get than this one? Rhode Island is sitting at 6-2 with losses to Princeton and Rutgers, but they secured a win over NC State. Saint Joseph's is 6-1 with notable wins over Cincinnati and Columbia, but they lost to Penn State. This game is going to go a long way in deciding who leads the charge early in the Atlantic 10 between two teams who are looking for a conference title.
12/6 - BYU @ Portland
This game is interesting to me for a few reasons. BYU has shown a tendency this year to let teams hang around a bit longer than what you'd expect, and they are coming off of a loss to a very tough Vanderbilt team. They will play Washington State prior to meeting Portland, and I think the turnaround could be a factor. They had their worst game of the year off of a four-day rest on the road at Montana. Portland, on the other hand, has played their best basketball on their home floor and is coming off of their best two games of the season. This one could be a game to watch closely.
12/7 - Maryland @ Minnesota
The Big 10 opener for both of these teams is going to be important in their own way. For Maryland, they are likely going to be looking to capitalize on a 10-0 start to their season. Road games in the Big 10 are never easy, and opening on the road against a team that is looking to make a statement is going to make it even tougher. Minnesota will be looking to get a win here to notch a solid win onto their record. They have no Quad 1 wins this season, so this game is going to be huge for them as they roll fully into conference play. I'll have my eyes closely on this one.
12/7 - Fairfield @ Richmond
Quite simply, this game might be the best mid-major non-conference game of the season. Both of these teams have two losses, but all four have come at the hands of Top-19 programs in the country. If neither of these teams wins their respective conference tournaments, this game might be a game that the selection committee takes a look at with bid implications. If there is any game that you watch this week that features two non-Power Four teams, this one should be it.
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