“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. 30.
Milestones/accomplishments
1/28/2022: Caitlin Clark of the No. 23 Iowa Hawkeyes did this:
Caitlin Clark is a BALLER
She is the first Division I player with 250 points, 50 rebounds and 50 assists in a month since Kemba Walker in March 2011.
No D-I women’s player has put up a 250-50-50 month over the last 20 seasons. pic.twitter.com/MCcQjMi6eN
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 29, 2022
1/25/2022: Clark dished out 17 assists, which is the most ever by a single player in a regular-season Big Ten game and the most ever for an Iowa player. Kathleen Doyle is second in Iowa history with 15 assists in a single game (Feb. 6, 2020). The Hawkeyes had 37 assists as a team, which is their most ever in a game. Iowa’s 107 points in the contest ranks second in program history in Big Ten play.
1/27/2022: Senior Rhyne Howard of the Kentucky Wildcats reached 2,000 career points. Valerie Still (2,763 career points) and A’dia Mathies (2,014) are the only other Wildcats to have accomplished the feat.
1/27/2022: Senior Naz Hillmon of the No. 7 Michigan Wolverines reached 935 career rebounds, making her the program’s all-time leader in the category. She passed Trish Andrew, who had 928 boards. Also, the Wolverines finished 2-0 in their season series with the No. 22 Ohio State Buckeyes. The last time they swept their rival was 2010-11.
1/27/2022: Graduate student Khayla Pointer of the No. 12 LSU Tigers achieved the 1,500-point, 500-rebound, 500-assist mark, becoming the first LSU player to accomplish that.
1/30/2022: Pointer’s head coach Kim Mulkey reached 650 career wins. No one in Division I men’s or women’s basketball has gotten there faster.
1/30/2022: Graduate student Lashonda Monk of the No. 24 Ole Miss Rebels was honored for having 400 career steals and went on to have six in a contest against the No. 15 Georgia Lady Bulldogs.
1/24/2022: The No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks set a program record for least amount of points allowed in SEC play by holding the Vanderbilt Commodores to 30. For the third time this season, the Gamecock reserves outscored their opponent’s starters. The team also outrebounded Vanderbilt 17-3 in the third quarter. That’s tied for the fifth-best rebounding margin for a South Carolina team in a single frame.
1/27/2022: South Carolina picked up its ninth ranked win of the season, having won those games by an average of 13 points per contest.
1/30/2022: Junior Aliyah Boston of South Carolina reached 14-straight double-doubles, 599 defensive rebounds in SEC play (third at SC) and 912 total rebounds (sixth at SC).
1/30/2022: South Carolina reached 10 occurrences of a 20-plus rebound margin this season.
1/30/2022: The No. 3 NC State Wolfpack tied their best 10-game start in conference play (10-0).
1/25/2022: Junior Makenna Marisa of the Penn State Nittany Lions made it to 1,000 career points.
1/30/2022: Olivia Miles of the No. 20 Notre Dame Fighting Irish joined Alicia Ratay, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Sam Brunelle and Arike Ogunbowale as a Notre Dame freshman to score 30-plus points in a game. She had 30 to go along with six assists.
1/29/2022: Jordan Lewis of the No. 11 Baylor Bears posted a triple-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. It was her first and Baylor’s seventh as a program.
1/26/2022: Ayoka Lee of the No. 25 Kansas State Wildcats moved into a fifth-place tie for single-season double-doubles at her school by registering her 14th of 2021-22.
1/29/2022: The No. 13 Iowa State Cyclones got off to their best 21-game start (18-3) since 2004-05.
Streak tracker
No. 10 UConn Huskies consecutive seasons without losing back-to-back games – 28
No. 5 Louisville Cardinals consecutive weeks in Top 10 – 88 (longest active streak in the nation)
No. 5 Louisville Cardinals consecutive weeks in Top 25 – 117
No. 10 UConn Huskies consecutive conference wins – 169
No. 11 Baylor Bears consecutive non-conference home wins – 67
No. 2 Stanford Cardinal consecutive Pac-12 wins – 22
No. 3 NC State Wolfpack consecutive ACC wins – 18
FGCU consecutive ASUN wins – 30
FGCU Eagles consecutive road wins – 26 (longest active streak in the nation)
No. 16 BYU Cougars consecutive home wins – 27
No. 6 Indiana Hoosiers consecutive road wins – 12
Texas A&M Aggies consecutive wins vs. non-Power 5 opponents – 25
Surprises
Upsets
1/27/2022: Auburn Tigers over No. 4 Tennessee Lady Volunteers, 71-61
Auburn snapped a 23-game SEC losing streak and picked up its first win over a Top 5 team since 1997. Aicha Coulibaly notched Tiger team highs in points (26) and rebounds (seven).
Auburn (No. 91 in the NET rankings) was not even included on the bubble of ESPN’s Jan. 28 bracketology while Tennessee (No. 7 in the NET rankings) was a No. 2 seed.
1/27/2022: Arkansas Razorbacks over No. 12 LSU Tigers, 90-76
Amber Ramirez went 5-of-8 from downtown and finished with 25 points for the winners.
Head coach Mike Neighbors and the Razorbacks also beat Mulkey last year when she was at Baylor. The Bears were No. 4 at the time.
Arkansas was a No. 7 seed in ESPN’s Jan. 28 bracketology while LSU was a No. 4 seed.
1/29/2022: No. 18 Oklahoma Sooners over No. 9 Texas Longhorns, 65-63
A Liz Scott layup with 4.1 seconds remaining won the game for Oklahoma, which received 23 points and nine rebounds from Madi Williams. The last time the Sooners beat a Top 10 opponent was 2017.
1/27/2022: UNC Tar Heels over No. 21 Duke Blue Devils, 78-62
Alyssa Ustby (20 points, six rebounds, three steals) and Kennedy Todd-Williams (15 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals, three blocks) led the way for the Tar Heels.
This one wasn’t much of an upset. UNC was receiving votes and is actually now projected as No. 6 seed in ESPN’s latest bracketology (Jan. 28), one line ahead of Duke. But the margin of victory was surprising.
Close calls
1/28/2022: No. 23 Iowa Hawkeyes over Northwestern Wildcats by just five in OT
Northwestern wasn’t even included on the bubble of ESPN’s Jan. 28 bracketology while Iowa was a No. 6 seed.
1/26/2022: No. 19 Oregon Ducks over Utah Utes by just four
The Utes were a No. 10 seed in ESPN’s Jan. 28 bracketology while the Ducks were a No. 4 seed.
1/26/2022: No. 10 UConn Huskies over DePaul Blue Demons by just two
The Blue Demons were a No. 8 seed in ESPN’s Jan. 28 bracketology while the Huskies were a No. 3 seed.
Other news
Mississippi State’s Jessika Carter, who shared her struggles with depression on social media in December, is enrolled at the school and doing individual workouts, coach Doug Novak said Thursday. Carter also was on the bench for the team’s win Thursday.https://t.co/VLsOVNg9TP
— ESPN Women’s Hoops (@ESPN_WomenHoop) January 28, 2022
Though junior Ayoka Lee is eligible for the 2022 WNBA draft, she said Tuesday she plans to return to Kansas State for her senior season. “I really love what I’m doing for school, and I want to finish that education. And I love the program,” she said.https://t.co/4v9syLhtAN
— ESPN Women’s Hoops (@ESPN_WomenHoop) January 25, 2022
Other games of the week
1/27/2022: Texas State Bobcats over Little Rock Trojans, 69-65 (3OT)
1/30/2022: Drexel Dragons over William & Mary Tribe, 75-67 (2OT)
1/28/2022: Oregon State Beavers over USC Trojans, 63-61 (OT)
Other top performances
1/30/2022: Sidney Cooks — 32 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks for the Seton Hall Pirates in a loss to the DePaul Blue Demons.
1/27/2022: Quincy Noble — 30 points, eight rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocks for the North Texas Mean Green in a win over the Southern Miss Golden Eagles.
1/26/2022: Aneesah Morrow — 30 points, 14 rebounds and three steals for the DePaul Blue Demons in their loss to the UConn Huskies.
1/30/2022: Maddy Siegrist — 30 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two steals and four blocks for the Villanova Wildcats in a win over the Xavier Musketeers.
1/30/2022: Keishana Washington — 40 points and six rebounds for the Drexel Dragons in the double overtime win over the William & Mary Tribe.