Holiday Gifts for the World of Women's College Hoops
Happy holidays, hoops fans!
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The holidays are here, and with them a brief pause in the women’s college basketball action. In the spirit of the season, it’s time to give out some gifts!
For: Paige Bueckers - a Luka Doncic jersey
UConn fans, avert your eyes. Everyone else, if you’re reading this on Dec. 23, the 2025 WNBA Draft is only 112 days away, and (spoiler) Paige Bueckers is going to be selected with the first pick by the Dallas Wings. While I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Paige’s final half-season of college basketball and March Madness run, it’s never too early to start preparing for the future. As a Philly sports fan, I’ve seen firsthand how powerful Bryce Harper’s pandering has been in endearing him to the locals, and also as a Philly sports fan, I’d absolutely never give Paige Cowboys gear. It’s only fitting that Paige shouts out another of her new home city’s great guards, anyway.
For: South Carolina - a breather
The reigning national champions have played one of the hardest schedules in the country so far. They’re seventh in D-I as far as the average net ratings of their opponents and entered Sunday fifth in D-I in average opponent NET, two metrics which sound like they’re the same thing but aren’t quite. They’ve played games away from home against NC State, UCLA (loss), Iowa State and TCU as well as a home game against Duke. The SEC slate will eventually provide a gauntlet of its own, including this five-game stretch in January: vs. Texas, at Alabama, vs. Oklahoma, vs. LSU, at Tennessee. The best gift the Gamecocks could ask for right now is 10 days off between games against Charleston Southern and Wofford.
For: Kim Mulkey - contact info for coaches and athletic directors from the ACC, Big 12, Big East and Big Ten
LSU stands in rather stark contrast with South Carolina as far as non-conference schedules are concerned. The Tigers are 254th in opponent average net rating as of Sunday and 220th in NET strength of schedule, having played just one game so far in the top quadrant. That quad one game was out of LSU’s control against NC State in the Pink Flamingo Championship, but what isn’t out of their control is that their non-conference slate included just one true road game and it came at UIC. As fans, we’d all benefit from seeing LSU play more quality opponents early in the season, even if it hasn’t stopped the Tigers making deep runs in March. Perhaps coach Kim Mulkey would be more inclined to schedule them if she had contact info handy!
For: Louisville - a relatively easy ACC schedule
It’s been a rough go so far for Jeff Walz’s Cardinals, with a 7-5 record including an 0-5 mark against AP top 25 teams (losses to UCLA, Kentucky, Oklahoma, UConn and NC State). UL showed a lot of fight while going toe-to-toe with the Bruins in Paris, taking Kentucky to OT in Lexington and leading OU by double-digits at home before collapsing in the final frame, but the last two losses came by a combined 66 points. The good news for Louisville is it only sees one ranked team in January (Georgia Tech) and four of six remaining games against ranked teams come at home. They won’t face another ranked team away from the Yum! Center again until most likely Feb. 20 at Duke.
For: Georgia Tech - attention…and expectations
It’s beyond time to take the Yellow Jackets seriously as they carry a program-best 13-0 start into ACC play, but that also means saddling them with expectations. Tech is a good bit higher in both the NET (14th as of Sunday) and AP poll (17th last week) than in HHS rating (28th entering Monday), but the on-court results so far speak for themselves including wins at North Carolina and most recently against Nebraska. Freshman Dani Carnegie scored 22 points at UNC and 20 against the Cornhuskers, and her 14.5 points per game are a tenth of a point off the D-I lead among players who haven’t made a start. With the next three games all at home against Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Virginia Tech, it’d be disappointing if GT didn’t go into Louisville 16-0 on Jan. 12 and potentially into Notre Dame 17-0 four days later.
For: Notre Dame - a healthy Maddy Westbeld?
Off to a 9-2 start including wins over UConn and USC (meaning Notre Dame has both an actual win and a transitive win over UConn), Notre Dame appears to also be getting healthy. The Fighting Irish played most of the season’s first two months with freshman Kate Koval essentially alone in the frontcourt, but welcomed Liza Karlen into the fold for the first time during the win over UConn. Karlen ramped up from 10 minutes against the Huskies to 21 the last time out against Eastern Michigan, and if a recent Instagram caption promising to see her No. 21 soon is any indication, the frontcourt could be getting even more crowded with the return of Maddy Westbeld. Already looking like a national championship contender, the Fighting Irish may be on the verge of adding a two-time All-ACC selection who averaged 14.4 points and 8.7 rebounds last season to their potent mix.
For: every women’s hoops fan - the second half of the season
After a non-conference season marked mostly by blowouts and obscure streaming services, conference play wastes no time getting into high gear after the holidays. Sunday’s schedule includes three top 25 caliber matchups in the Big Ten alone with Michigan State-Maryland, Nebraska-UCLA and Michigan-USC, while North Carolina hits the road to face a Miami team currently sitting at 11-1. As the season unfolds, we’ll get the gift of seeing whether Paige Bueckers can finally add a national championship to her litany of accolades, if South Carolina can make it three out of four, how far Hannah Hidalgo and JuJu Watkins can carry loaded Notre Dame and USC rosters, whether new SEC members Texas and Oklahoma can upend the likes of South Carolina and LSU from atop the standings, and countless other storylines, many of which haven’t revealed themselves yet. Happy holidays, hoops fans!
Thanks for reading the Her Hoop Stats Newsletter. If you like our work, be sure to check out our stats site, our podcast, and our social media accounts on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
Merry Christmas to you hard-working scribes!