“Around the NCAAW Weekly” highlights the notable events of the week. Check out the milestones, surprises, best games and outstanding performances for games played through Sunday, Jan. 2.
Milestones/accomplishments
1/2/2022: Caitlin Clark of the No. 21 Iowa Hawkeyes reached 1,000 career points in the 10th game of her sophomore year. No Big Ten player has ever gotten to that number faster. Her 44 points in her team’s win over the Evansville Purple Aces is the highest scoring total by an individual women’s player inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena, home of the University of Iowa. Former Hawkeye Amy Harrig is the player whose record was broken. She scored 42 points in the building on Jan. 14, 1999.
Big Ten legend from the Ohio State Buckeyes Kelsey Mitchell scored 1,000 points in 41 games. Two-time WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne from the Delaware Blue Hens was the last player to reach 1,000 points in 40 games or less.
Caitlin Clark’s career-high 44 points mark the seventh 40-point game this season. She’s the third D-I player to get 40 in 30 or fewer minutes this season (Rickea Jackson, Ayoka Lee).
Clark is also the eighth player in D-I history with 1,000 points in first 40 career games. pic.twitter.com/6Zt1DCRr8c
— ESPN Women’s Hoops (@ESPN_WomenHoop) January 2, 2022
1/2/2022: The No. 8 Indiana Hoosiers defeated mighty Maryland, the class of the Big Ten, for the first time in program history.
1/2/2021: Ashley Owusu of the No. 6 Maryland Terrapins reached 400 career assists in the 14th game of her junior year. She is averaging 5.3 assists per game for her career. Only 13 other members of the Maryland program have accomplished the feat.
1/2/2022: Emily Ryan of the No. 14 Iowa State Cyclones tied Lyndsey Medders for most assists in a single game in program history (16). Ryan, who had 15 helpers in her previous outing, added 10 points and nine rebounds.
Another amazing day by @ryan_emily11!
16 assists (T-single-game school record, T-2 in a game in NCAA D1 this season, T-6 in a game in #Big12WBB history)
10 points (second-straight double-double)
9 rebounds (career-high)
40 minutes (third complete game this year) pic.twitter.com/5JeE8G1sjf— Cyclone Basketball (@CycloneWBB) January 3, 2022
12/31/2021: The Michigan Wolverines earned their largest margin of victory over Ohio State in program history, winning 90-71. Also in this game, Naz Hillmon became the second Michigan women’s basketball player to have 40 or more double-doubles. She had 29 points and 15 rebounds.
12/28/2021: Iyana Moore buried nine threes for the Vanderbilt Commodores. That’s the most ever for a player in a single game in program history. As far as threes for the entire team, Vandy had 17, also a new record.
1/2/2022: No. 1 South Carolina’s Dawn Staley reached 700 career games as a head coach with a record of 516-184. Only 12 active coaches who have been around at least 10 years have better winning percentages.
12/27/2021: Tamari Key moved into fourth place in career blocks for the Tennessee Lady Volunteers. With five blocks apiece in her games on 12/30 and 1/2, she now has 211 for her career.
1/2/2022: Maya Dodson of the No. 17 Notre Dame Fighting Irish scored 25-plus points for the second game in a row with 26. Arike Ogunbowale was the last Notre Dame player to accomplish the feat and that was in February of 2018. Dodson had 28 points in her previous outing.
12/29/2021: For the third time in program history, the South Florida Bulls (13-of-13) were perfect from the charity stripe while attempting at least 10 free throws.
1/2/2022: Maryland went to overtime for the first time in 287 games (since March 8, 2013).
Streak tracker
No. 3 Louisville Cardinals consecutive weeks in Top 10 – 83 (longest active streak in the country)
No. 3 Louisville Cardinals consecutive weeks in Top 25 – 112
No. 10 Baylor Bears consecutive non-conference home wins – 67
No. 6 Maryland Terrapins consecutive home wins – 30 (longest active streak in the country)
No. 8 Indiana Hoosiers consecutive Big Ten wins – 12
No. 23 Texas A&M Aggies consecutive wins vs. non-Power 5 opponents – 25
Surprises
Upsets
12/30/2021: Missouri Tigers over No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks, 70-69 (OT)
This was the seventh time in NCAAW Division I history that a team outside the Top 25 defeated No. 1. The Missouri win snapped South Carolina’s 43-game winning streak against unranked opponents. It had been the longest active streak in the nation.
The Tigers were a No. 7 seed in ESPN’s Dec. 31st bracketology and are No. 44 in the NET rankings.
walking down the street of Chicago to get a covid test and some girl comes up to me and says, “that was one heck of a @MizzouWBB win!”
Like how freaking cool is that
— Sophie Cunningham (@sophaller) January 2, 2022
1/2/2022: Kansas State Wildcats over No. 10 Baylor Bears, 68-59
This was Kansas State’s first win over Baylor since Jan. 27, 2004. The Wildcats had lost 36 in a row to the Bears. They hadn’t defeated a Top 10 team since Jan. 14, 2012. Ayoka Lee led the way with 28 of her 32 points coming in the second half.
Kansas State was a No. 9 seed in ESPN’s Dec. 31st bracketology. It is actually now ahead of Baylor in the NET rankings by five slots at No. 14, but wasn’t receiving votes last week.
12/30/2021: Virginia Tech Hokies over No. 15 Duke Blue Devils, 77-55
Elizabeth Kitley dropped 27 points and hauled in 13 rebounds for the Hokies, while Georgia Amoore was good for 20 points, six boards and six assists.
Virginia Tech was a No. 8 seed in ESPN’s Dec. 31st bracketology, as was Duke, and is actually ahead of the Blue Devils in the NET rankings by 24 slots at No. 12. However, the Hokies weren’t receiving votes entering this contest.
12/30/2021: Michigan State Spartans over Nebraska Cornhuskers, 72-69
Nia Clouden was phenomenal again with 32 points, six assists and five rebounds for the Spartans.
Nebraska was receiving votes, was a No. 7 seed in ESPN’s Dec. 31st bracketology and is No. 8 in the NET rankings. Michigan State wasn’t even on the bubble in ESPN’s Dec. 31st bracketology and is No. 76 in the NET rankings.
12/30/2021: No. 19 LSU Tigers over No. 13 Georgia Lady Bulldogs, 68-62
Khayla Pointer paced the Tigers with 21 points and Faustine Aifuwa added 17 points and nine rebounds.
12/30/2021: Indiana State Sycamores over Drake Bulldogs, 78-70
The Bulldogs are No. 54 in the NET rankings, while the Sycamores are No. 194.
Close calls
1/2/2022: No. 13 Georgia Lady Bulldogs over Florida Gators by just four
The Gators were not even included on the bubble of ESPN’s Dec. 31st bracketology and are No. 94 in the NET rankings.
Other games of the week
1/1/2022: St. Thomas – Minnesota Tommies over Western Illinois Leathernecks, 66-64 (2OT)
12/30/2021: UAB Blazers over UTEP Miners, 76-74 (OT)
12/30/2021: Tennessee State Lady Tigers over Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles, 96-93 (OT)
Other top performances
12/30/2021: Meral Abdelgawad — 36 points, nine rebounds, fives assists and two steals for the Western Kentucky Lady Toppers in a win over the Southern Miss Golden Eagles.
1/1/2022: Molly Davis — 32 points, 10 assists and five rebounds for the Central Michigan Chippewas in a win over the Northern Illinois Huskies.
1/1/2022: Jade Compton — 32 points and 15 rebounds for the Presbyterian Blue Hose in a loss to the Longwood Lancers.
1/1/2022: Savannah Wheeler — 30 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Marshall Thundering Herd in a win over the Southern Miss Golden Eagles.
1/1/2022: Jordyn Dawson — 30 points, nine rebounds and six steals for the Akron Zips in a loss to the Toledo Rockets.
The Top 5 remained the same. Indiana moved up two spots to No. 6 with its win over Maryland, which fell from No. 6 to No. 10. The Texas Longhorns moved up three spots to No. 9. LSU moved up six spots to No. 13. Baylor fell four spots to No. 14. The still undefeated North Carolina Tar Heels moved up five spots to No. 19. Notre Dame fell three spots to No. 20. The Oklahoma Sooners, who were receiving votes last week, entered the rankings at No. 23, while last week’s No. 25 team, Ohio State, fell out.