The Weekly Roundup: Oklahoma’s Thrilling OT Win, Ayoka Lee Does It Again, and Much More!
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The Weekly Roundup: Oklahoma’s Thrilling OT Win, Ayoka Lee Does It Again, and Much More!
Breaking down the top-25 clashes and outstanding performances of the past week
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It’s finals time for college basketball players across the country. I understand that balancing schoolwork with sports is a quintessential part of being a student-athlete (I mean, it’s right there in the name), but it’s no less amazing to me how these athletes manage to prepare for final exams while performing at such an elite level on the basketball court. Speaking of elite competition, let’s take a quick look at the exciting top-25 action that occurred over the past week.
In the latest edition of the Cy-Hawk rivalry, Iowa State star forward Ashley Joens dropped a 26-point, 11-rebound double-double on 9-for-28 shooting, leading her team to a 77-70 victory over Iowa in front of the raucous Cyclone faithful. It was Iowa State’s first win over its intrastate rival since 2015. For the Hawkeyes, Caitlin Clark finished with 26 points on 10-for-26 shooting and seven rebounds.
South Carolina solidified its grasp as the nation’s top team, escaping with a 66-59 victory over Maryland on Sunday afternoon. It was an inspired performance by the Terrapins, who are starting to recover from the injury bug that plagued them earlier this season. Maryland’s Angel Reese recorded a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double. However, South Carolina dominated the glass, outrebounding the Terrapins 61-34. Zia Cooke led the Gamecocks in scoring with 20 points, and Aliyah Boston posted a monster 16-point, 16-rebound, and seven-block effort.
UConn is still adjusting to a lineup without Paige Bueckers. Actually, UConn is still adjusting to a lineup without Bueckers, Azzi Fudd, Nika Mühl, and Aubrey Griffin. Given how high UConn has set the bar, it’s reflexively a shock when the Huskies lose a game. However, fully appreciating that hindsight is 20/20, should it have been that surprising that UConn dropped a road game with such an injury-depleted roster against a previously-ranked team like Georgia Tech? With the exception of Evina Westbrook, the offensive woes that plagued the Huskies against Georgia Tech appeared to continue in the first half of their game versus UCLA on Saturday. However, UConn snapped out of their offensive funk in the second half, scoring 43 points and receiving contributions from several other players. First among them was Dorka Juhász, who finished with 16 points and 16 boards en route to her team’s 71-61 win over the Bruins.
In another intrastate contest between top-25 programs, Louisville handed Kentucky its second loss of the week, topping the Wildcats 64-58 on Sunday afternoon. Louisville’s Chelsie Hall led all scorers with 15 points; Hailey Van Lith and Ahlana Smith chipped in with 13 points apiece. The Cardinals held Wildcats star guard Rhyne Howard to just her fourth single-digit scoring night since her freshman season. Dre’una Edwards led Kentucky with 14 points and 14 rebounds.
Game of the week: Oklahoma knocks off BYU in overtime classic
Oklahoma knew that Friday night’s match-up against BYU would be no walk in the park. After all, BYU was unbeaten, ranked No. 16 in the AP poll, and had two wins over top-25 competition under its belt. Even so, the obstacles overcome by the Sooners in their thrilling 99-91 overtime win were no less remarkable.
First, BYU compiled an 11-0 run to quickly jump out to a 10-point lead in the first quarter. Shortly after Oklahoma weathered that storm and cut the Cougars’ lead to 3, Sooners senior guard Ana Llanusa left the game with a leg injury. Rather than falter in the absence of their second-leading scorer and leader in steals, Oklahoma responded to the challenge, never letting the BYU lead grow to more than six points.
“With (Llanusa) going down, we just needed a little spark of energy,” senior Madi Williams said. “I kept telling (the team), ‘We’re good. We’re built for this.’ We came out with fire.”
Then, Williams, Oklahoma’s third-leading scorer and leading rebounder, picked up her fourth foul with 5:40 remaining in regulation and the Sooners clinging to a three-point lead, 70-67. Absent two of their three leading scorers, Oklahoma actually extended their lead to four points, 81-77, by the time Williams re-entered the contest with 2:26 left.
Back-to-back BYU threes by Paisley Harding and Tegan Graham gave the Cougars an 83-81 advantage with 1:09 left in regulation. On the ensuing possession, Williams received a pass in the high post, started to drive, drew a double team, and found Skylar Vann under the hoop for a wide-open, game-tying layup with 38 seconds remaining. BYU came up empty in its final possession, sending the back-and-forth contest to overtime.
Oklahoma then caught fire, putting up 16 points during the extra frame. Trailing 91-88 with 2:41 on the clock, Sooner guard Neveah Tot shook her defender with an effective hesitation dribble and finished a reverse layup. The game’s turning point occurred with 1:10 left when Skylar Vann drew a double team and found Madi Williams for an open three, giving Oklahoma a 93-91 lead that it would never relinquish. Overall, the Sooners closed out the game’s final 2:41 with an 11-0 run en route to a 99-91 victory. BYU fell out of rhythm offensively during this stretch, with its final six possessions resulting in three missed three-pointers and three turnovers.
“I’m almost speechless,” Oklahoma coach Jennie Baranczyk said after the game. “I couldn’t be more proud of our team. It was definitely a great performance.”
It’s no small feat knocking off a top-25 program after losing a player the caliber of Llanusa, who averages 17.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per contest. It required herculean efforts from Williams, who finished with a 25-point, 14-rebound double-double, and the country’s leading three-point shooter, Taylor Robertson, who filled the stat sheet with 23 points (4-for-6 from behind the arc), five rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Tot, Kennady Tucker, and Vann also played crucial minutes, combining for 29 points off the bench.
For BYU, sharpshooter Tegan Graham led all scorers with 30 points, shooting an Allie Quigley-esque 10-for-17 (58.8%) from behind the arc. The Cougars lost the rebounding battle 56-45, though it was through no fault of sophomore forward Lauren Gustin, whose double-double included a whopping 21 rebounds. Guard Shaylee Gonzales rounded out the trio of outstanding Cougar performances, with 24 points, six boards, and five assists.
Oklahoma (9-1) next sees action when it hosts Utah next Tuesday. BYU (8-1), which fell to No. 20 in the latest AP poll, takes on Washington State at home Saturday at 2 p.m.
Power Six performance of the week: Ayoka Lee, Kansas State
The Ayoka Lee dominance tour continued Saturday afternoon against South Dakota State, as the Kansas State sophomore posted a stat line that’s been matched by just two players since the 2009-10 season: Brittney Griner and Elena Delle Donne. Buoyed by a 16-point first quarter, Lee finished with a jaw-dropping 38 points, 14 rebounds, and six blocks in her team’s 79-73 win. In fact, her 16-point, three-rebound, and two-block first quarter is a line that only 10 players in the country average for an entire game this season.
It wasn’t Lee’s numbers in the first quarter or even her line for the entire game that cemented the performance of the week accolade for the Kansas State center. Rather, it was her play in crunch time of a tight game against a strong mid-major program. With her team trailing 64-62 at the start of the fourth quarter, the country’s third-leading scorer and shot blocker responded with eight points, six boards, and three blocks in the game’s final 10 minutes. She scored eight of Kansas State’s final 11 points, including four clutch free throws down the stretch to ice the game for the Wildcats.
Her ability to establish position deep in the post combined with her teammates’ crisp, accurate entry passes has proven almost unstoppable this season. After Lee catches a pass inside, opposing teams would ideally like to rotate a second defender over for a double team. Opposing teams this season have experienced two problems with that strategy. First, the speed with which her teammates deliver the entry pass and Lee executes her post move often prevents a double team from arriving. And even if the opposition manages to get a second defender on Lee, she uses her 6-foot-6 height to full effect, always holding the ball high enough where few Division I post players can influence her shot. All of this adds up to Lee’s top-three ranking in points per game and her leading the country in player efficiency rating and win shares.
Mid-Major performance of the week: Jennifer Coleman, Navy
She’s here; she’s there; she’s everywhere. Navy senior guard Jennifer Coleman is the Roy Kent of college basketball, at least when it comes to stat rankings. She currently ranks in the 99th percentile in the following categories: points per game (fifth overall), rebounds per game, assists per game, steals per game, player efficiency rating, and win shares. So, it’s little surprise to see Coleman earn this week’s mid-major performance of the week. Her near-triple-double of 27 points, 12 boards, nine assists, and five steals, a stat line exceeded by just two players since the 2009-10 season, propelled the Midshipmen to a 73-59 victory over Rider Sunday afternoon.
Navy’s 27-5 run during the third and fourth quarters turned the game’s tide, transforming a three-point deficit into a comfortable 19-point lead. Coleman played a critical role during that 7:05 stretch, contributing 16 points. Her output during the run included two three-pointers, an aspect of Coleman’s game that has vastly improved since last season. Coleman entered this year a career 33.3% three-point shooter, and, despite a farther three-point line, has hit a blistering 47.2% of her triples this season.
“Jenn keeps elevating her game and there is even more room for her to grow,” coach Tim Taylor said in his postgame comments.
It’s a frightening thought (at least for future Navy opponents) given Coleman’s body of work this season.
Adam’s Top 25
Here’s my top 25, which as always is based on the criterion of who would win in a hypothetical neutral-court matchup.
Her Hoop Stats content in case you missed it
The second annual Her Hoop Stats WNBA Mock Offseason podcast episode has dropped! Her Hoop Stats contributors and other WNBA insiders play various roles (team general managers, the WNBA league office, and the all-powerful player agent) as they simulate offseason transactions. You can find Part 1 in the link above; Parts 2 and 3 will be released today and tomorrow.
In the latest episode of Courtside, Gabe Ibrahim and Christy Winters Scott discussed the WNBA’s two major coaching changes, Cheryl Reeve taking over Team USA, and the ACC’s dominance against the Big Ten.
The average number of turnovers in pre-December games is up this season. Derek Willis analyzed this phenomenon and offered a few hypotheses for the increase.
Kim Doss broke down the WNBA coaching changes in Phoenix and New York, including what led to each coach’s departure and who the most likely successors are.
With a month of regular-season play in the books, which freshmen have shined? Aneela Khan offered her list of the country’s ten best freshmen.
James Hyman summarized the week’s events in the ACC and offered his ranking of the conference’s teams in the first installment of his ACC weekly recap.
Other recommended content
Corporations have historically viewed Black female athletes as less marketable than their white counterparts. For Global Sport Matters, Lou Moore explained how this has impacted the distribution of the biggest NIL (name, image, and likeness) deals.
How has Princeton been so effective defensively, ranking in the 99th percentile in Her Hoop Stats defensive rating? Jenn Hatfield investigated in a piece for The Next.
With Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd, Nika Mühl, and Aubrey Griffin all sidelined with injuries, the Hartford Courant’s Alexa Philippou and Dom Amore covered how UConn is adjusting to its injury-depleted roster.
Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register recapped Ashley Joens’ monster performance against Iowa Wednesday night, possibly her last game in the Cy-Hawk rivalry.
Trivia question of the week
Other than Breanna Stewart, who was the last Wade Trophy winner to come from a non-Power Six conference (ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, Pac 12)?
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.