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, For the first time, Pac-12 women’s basketball started conference play in early or mid-December. The conference moved to that model for the men in 2019-20, but it took a while for the women to join them. Many teams were able to do so this season, although some were unable to change their nonconference commitments to accommodate it this year. What happened for those who were able to make the change this season?
Washington State Cougars 66 @ Washington Huskies 82
Washington has struggled at the bottom of the conference for the past several years. Washington State has begun making a climb in the league and on the national level over the same period. It didn’t matter on Dec. 11.
Charlisse Leger-Walker, the Pac-12’s Freshman of the Year two seasons ago, went off for 40 points. It wasn’t close to enough for the Cougars. Leger-Walker was one of only two to score double digits for WSU. The other, center Bella Murekatete, just nudged into double figures with 10 points. The only other player to score more than three was Tara Wallack with seven.
WSU got just five points from its bench and three on the fastbreak. The Huskies outscored them in both areas.
More importantly, the Huskies just had more balance. UW had five players in double figures led by junior forward Lauren Schwartz with 21. Nine of the 10 players who got into the game put points on the board.
The well-rounded effort from the Huskies put them at 8-1 on the season. For a team picked 10th in both the media and coaches preseason polls, it’s a promising start.
Oregon State Beavers 67 @ Oregon Ducks 75
Oregon State hasn’t had the strongest start. Injuries and a challenging schedule had them 6-2 headed into the first leg of the Civil War.
It was similar for the Ducks, who have already lost Sedona Prince for the season and have not had freshman Kennedy Basham. Even with those injuries, and a strong early slate, UO was 6-1 as it welcomed its rival to Eugene.
It was a fight. Headed into the final quarter, the Beavs were up 51-50. A very balanced attack was led by Jelena Mitrovic with 13 points. She was one of four in double figures.
It wasn’t enough to answer Endyia Rogers’ effort, though. The guard had 34 points and nine rebounds to go with her six assists and a steal. Rogers refused to lose, scoring 12 points during a 17-2 fourth-quarter run. It transformed a seven-point deficit into an eight-point advantage. The Ducks moved to 7-1 as a result.
Colorado Buffaloes 58 @ Utah Utes 85
The Dec. 14 game wasn’t great for TV or fans, but it got the game in earlier in the season. It didn’t matter to Utah when the game was played, though. They continued steamrolling on offense with 85 points. The 9-0 Utes are second in the country in scoring with 93.3 points per game.
For the Buffs,all nine players who saw action scored, but only sophomore Aaronette Vonleh got into double digits with 10 points.
For the Utes, it was Alissa Pili once again making a name for herself. The junior had 25 points in just 28 minutes of play. Pili has scored at least 20 points in five of her last six games and at least 25 in her last three.
Utah hasn’t made the top 10 of either major poll yet, but both Her Hoop Stats rating and the NET love the Utes. Theysit at No. 7 in Her Hoop Stats rating and No. 6 in the NET. It’s time for the women’s college basketball community to turn its eye toward Salt Lake City.
Voting for the Best
Freshman of the Week
My vote: Raegan Beers, Oregon State
Winner: Christeen Iwuala, UCLA
There weren’t a lot of nominees this week with some tougher games on the schedule for most of the teams. The end result of this vote is questionable simply because of the quality of opponents. Both Iwuala and Beers had 10 points. Beers had six rebounds while Iwaula had eight. Beers had to do it against an Oregon Ducks team that is top 20 in every ranking system around. Iwuala and the Bruins played Cal State Fullerton, a 4-3 team ranked No. 135 in the NET and No. 199 in Her Hoop Stats rating. With numbers so even, it has to go to the player who accomplished the task against better competition, which was Beers.
Player of the Week
My vote: Endyia Rogers, Oregon
Winner: Endyia Rogers, Oregon
Pili’s game against Colorado wasn’t part of the stats for this week, so she did not play in the kind of game that would have put her ahead of Rogers. Rogers was the difference between a win or loss against the Ducks’ rivals. A near-double-double with 34 points and nine rebounds was enough, even without the six assists. Going 55.6 percent from the floor and 60 percent from three-point distance made it a slam-dunk case.
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