By Mike Siroky
The best conference of women’s basketball, the Southeastern, had one of the Select Six, those ranked in the Associated Press Top 25, lose a game. One of the others is already 6-0, focused on the preconference 10.
As always, any SEC team but one which has ever won 20 is in the elimination games. The better teams can always find 10 in league play. The six should have 10 before conference.
The other trend is these six teams are likely to host first-round Sweet 16 qualifiers, which all but guarantees advancement to the next round.
The first four have been there in recent history.
The next-best conference team so far avoided being ranked by losing its first after a 4-0 start.
No. 5 SOUTH CAROLINA (6-0)
The Gamecocks play certain in-state rivals every season, as they did before they were nationally prominent.
SC has the No. 3 offensive average in the league (89) and is No. 1 in points allowed (45) which are stats that usually show up in these games.
South Carolina Upstate became South Carolina Upside Down State in the first blowout.
The was expected. The chance to play before a large crowd – 10,202 -- was the visitors’ only reward. A 64-18 at halftime came with all the reserves getting a chance.
A 11-1 start of the third only extended expectations. SC limited them to single digits in each quarter.
The final was 112-32, the most any Dawn Staley team has scored. The 44 field goals are also a program record. Yikes.
“I thought we put in 40 minutes, especially from a defensive standpoint,” Staley said. “I thought they locked into what we needed.
“Offensively, I mean, we shared the ball. We had flow, we have rhythm.”
She may be new to this level, but freshman Aliyah Boston is showing she validates being the next great SC center of the Dawn Staley regime.
Boston had doubled, 18 points on 8-of-9 from the floor and 10 rebounds in the third.
The fun part of the start of the season is none of the other league coaches prove to be reliable talent scouts. None of them picked Boston worthy pf all-conference mention, where she obviously is going to be the freshman of the season and an all-conference selection by season’s end.
Sort of makes you wonder why anyone pays attention in the preseason.
“She’s a focal point for us, getting her the ball in the paint,” Staley said. “But when we don’t give her the ball in the paint, she rebounds the basketball. She’s been very consistent rebounding the ball.
“She’s been very efficient when we’ve gotten her the ball. She’s just a player that understands that she has to impose her will every single time we step on the floor, no matter what the competition.”
Senior point Tyasha Harris also had 18, with seven rebounds and six assists. She surpassed 1,000 points for her time in campus.
Six Gamecocks hit double figures. The defense held the Spartans
to .159 shooting percentage.
“After halftime, after we shoot and stuff like that, we huddle up and I tell them, the score starts over,” Harris said. “Just bring the same energy we brought in the first quarter.”
Another in-state rival, Clemson, came in next.
After messing up a 10-season coaching career at Florida, this is where Amanda Butler landed.
She is used to losing to Staley.
Besides, Clemson had already lost by 13 to SEC third division Alabama. SC defended the SEC against the ACC once again.
A legendary fan, A’ja Wilson, attended.
A 28-9 start helped; it was 48-23 at half.
Senior center Mikiah Herbert Harrigan had 11 with eight rebounds and Boston 10. Clemson’s best player had four fouls.
SC opened the second half, 6-0. With a 25-point lead, SC began to float off course.
Four straight possessions yielded no points. Then freshman Bree Beale hit two straight 3s and Boston a layup, followed by another breakaway by Harris and the game was 61-27.
Harris had risen to 10. The fifth starter, Beale, had 11, making all five starters with at least 10. Clemson had burned all its timeouts.
Staley started infusing all the reserves, even though the regulars were on an 0-for-6 stretch.
Still, 65-29 in the third is hard to waste. Play integrity immediately fell off on both ends.
So it wandered to an 84-49 end. They held Clemson to 26 percent from the floor.
“I thought we came with defensive pressure extremely well,” said assistant coach Jolette Law. “We addressed defensive pressure off the boards in the second half.” They drew 2,830.
No. 6 TEXAS A&M (4-0)
The Aggies visited the left coast and Southern Cal for its only challenge.
The first quarter was a 21-19 tussle, advantage home team, despite the Aggies hitting 56 percent from the floor.
Kayla Wells was 4-of-5 from the field for eight and Chennedy Carter scored five.
Neither team had established anything.
The Aggies took a six-point lead by shooting even better, 76 percent to start the second quarter, as part of an 11-0 run.
N’dea Jones elevated to 10 rebounds and an eight-point lead with three minutes left in the half.
Cierra Jonson was 3-of-4 from the field for six.
The Aggies led by five in what was still a closely-guarded game at half.
A&M extended the lead to 11 in the third. Jones was up to 16 rebounds, 11 of them, defensive.
Still, it was difficult to see which team was ranked and which wasn’t. This probably bodes well for SC in the elimination games.
Wells had 16 and Carter 10. What wasn’t working was the outside game. The Aggies had two 3s, the Trojans six. Each team had hit two free throws.
The Aggies closed it out, 74-64.
Carter’s shooting was not great, 12-of-28 with one 3. She was 4-of-15 from the floor in the first half.
But she scored 16 in the second half for 25. Wells was a calm 8-of-11 for 16.
Because of Jones’ 18 rebounds, A&M won the boards by 14. They had 16 assists, half of those by Shambria Washington.
They scored 15 points off the 12 SC turnovers.
“We worked very hard for this game,” said Jones. “We know we’re going to get everybody’s best shot. I wish my own shot was better. A couple of times my eyes sparkled, but the shots just weren’t there.”
“We look at it like we’re going us vs. us, just to get better every game,” said Wells. “I just let the game come to me. If I had the shot, I took it, if it wasn’t there it wasn’t there. I have been in the gym shooting a lot.
“We definitely got a target on our backs,” she said. “So we have to be ready,” said assistant coach Amy Wright.
“Watching the game, it felt like they were shooting 80 percent. We have to approach every game like it was a Sweet 16 games or an SEC game.
“N’dea got a little pep talk from coach before before the game. He told her he wanted to see her run past those defenders and he wanted double-digit rebounds. So she hit her goals.
“Kayla has embraced being Robin to the Batman and Robin thing with Chennedy. Every play we called for her, she delivered.”
Only 682 bothered to attend on the football Saturday afternoon of Southern Cal/UCLA.
The Aggies head into an all-Texas December, nine games of which eight are gimmes. They should be well on their way to 20 before league play.
No. 10 MISSISSIPPI STATE (4-0)
Imagine this: Only a 19-11 start at Jackson State. Jessika Carter was 3-of-3 and that was about it.
The Bulldogs straightened it out and won, 92-53.
Carter finished with 21 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.
“To have the opportunity to come down here and play in the state capital in front of some of our 2,305 fans is a real blessing,” said coach Vic Schaefer. “I was proud of our team. I don’t think we played real well.
“Too many turnovers.
“Give Jackson State credit. I thought those kids played really hard tonight and played really well.
“You’re going to get everybody’s best shot. That is the way it is. Right, wrong or indifferent, whether you deserve it or not, if you are wearing maroon with the words ‘Mississippi State’ across your chest, you’re going to get everyone’s best shot. Our kids are learning that.
“I don’t think we played that well, and we scored 92 points. We will go back, watch the film and get better. We go on the road now and life is about to get real, real. We have to go to Marquette Monday night then to Canada.”
Rickea Jackson provided a spark off the bench with 13 points, while Andra Espinoza-Hunter recorded 12 points in her first start of the season.
Myah Taylor rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points to go along with five assists and two steals.
State won rebounds, 57-45. Chloe Bibby had a career-high 15 rebounds, nine of which came on the offensive end.
Senior Jordan Danberry scored six with six rebounds, four steals, two assists and two blocks. State’s 12 steals led to 25 points off 22 turnovers.
State picked things up beginning with the second quarter. On defense, State held the Tigers to 4-of-14 from the field.
The Bulldogs used a 13-1 run during the middle of the quarter and shot 52 percent from the floor to pull ahead for good. Carter and Jackson both dropped 11 points in the period to give State a 45-22 lead at halftime.
The defensive lockdown continued after halftime, holding Jackson State to 25 percent from the field in the third.
The lead was 68-34. Nine different Bulldogs scored.
State continues its five-game stretch away from home, traveled to Marquette’s Monday night matchup then it’s on to Canada for the Greater Victoria Invitational next week.
Of the SEC player of the week, coach Vic Schaefer said of Carter, “she's confident and knows that I'm confident in her. She's got the greenlight. There's not a shot that I don't want her to take.”
The successful state tour continued, Schaefer knows you win in increments, locally, then conference, with the occasional foray against national non-league opponents.
“This state is so special to me, our program and all our teams here at Mississippi State. We have been to Biloxi, Jackson, trying to play in Tupelo, and now being able to go back to Jackson this year is really special.”
His focus on defense is reflected in the players. Most all of them were the scoring standout in high school.
Now their focus has to be full court.
"We could write a book on that,” said Shaefer. “It's them understanding the importance of playing both ends. Your great players want to be All-Americans’ well you've got to play on both ends.”
He cited former All-America Victoria Vivians, among that group that brought State to national prominence.
“(She) learned the importance of playing both ends here at Mississippi State and really came to appreciate the charge-taking, getting in passing lanes for steals, and helping us rebound. All of those things are defense.
“Any player understands that they're not stopping at half-court and for their teammates to play defense because they're on the offensive end. I think they understand the importance of that, and they have a sense of pride.’
It got incrementally better in the second quarter.
The Bulldogs started the conference work week against visiting Troy, two 3-0 teams.
The usual fast start had them up, 23-15 at the quarter stop. It extended on a 17-8 run to start the second.
Jessika Carter was already 6-of-6 from the field, 2-of-2 at the line with seven rebounds and the tempo was set. Miyah Taylor had 11.
Coach Schafer was building experience with liberal substitutions.
Rookie JaMaya Mingo-Young was second on point. She scored six, 2-of-2 each from the floor and the line. They built the lead to 66-38 at half, 12 assists and six steals making it work. It was over.
Carter had a double/double, 17 points and 12 rebounds, with three blocks.
At halftime, fans participated in the annual Teddy Bear Toss, throwing stuffed teddy bears onto the court to benefit Le Bonheur Children's Hospital as the holiday season draws near.
"I'm really excited that we had more than 1,000 teddy bears tonight," said Schaefer. "That will be donated to people in this area for Christmas, which I am so proud of. I want to thank our fans for that.
“It's always a special thing that we can do, and it teaches our youth and kids to give back to the community. I'm really proud of that and appreciate our 6,800 fans that were here tonight."
Mixing in different lineups, State maintained the lead through the third, a 30-point advantage for most of it. The final, 122-82, is only two points off the program record set the game before. The 49 field goals top the league so far.
Fifth-year senior Jordan Danberry scored 24 in 19 minutes, almost all after halftime. Taylor scored 20, a career high.
"(We)] certainly were fortunate to have Miyah Taylor on our team tonight," Schaefer said. "I thought her energy and effort tonight really stood out."
“In the game plan, the idea was to get back and play defense,” said Taylor.
“We have a practice squad of guys who really push us and make us better,” said Taylor. “I learned to take charges from them because they ae faster and so physical.” She had taken five charges on defense.
“If you asked coach Schaefer if he was more proud of the 20 points or the charges, it definitely would be the charges.”
No. 14 KENTUCKY (5-0)
Morehead State was the first of what should be seven straight home wins.
By halftime, they had doubled the score, 48-24 -- the most points in a half this season. No Golden Eagle starter had more than 4.
The Kats had started rotating in reserves. Rhyne Howard had 13 on her way to 24. Sabrina Hayes scored 14. It ended before 3,932 79-54 at Memorial Coliseum.
Howard has scored double figures 30 times in 37 games. The Kats forced 25 turnovers and turned those into 35 points.
In the third quarter, Kentucky kept the defensive pressure turned up, forcing four early turnovers and converting those into eight points.
In the process, the Cats built a 31-point advantage, 59-28, with 6:24 left in the third.
That lead would eventually balloon to 34 points, 68-34, with 3:22 left in the period. Howard scored 11 points in the third quarter, and Kentucky took a 71-43 lead.
Kentucky earned four days off.
Coach Matthew Mitchell focuses on the positives.
“The players really tried to take advantage of the practice opportunities even up until – we were still working on it during the warmup session,” he said.
“So many times tonight we had much improved execution and that’s a real credit to our players and practice – giving great effort and taking it to the floor, so still plenty of room for growth but that’s a good step forward tonight.
“We have been trying to start our defense with hustle. We’ve been working hard to be the aggressors on the possession and to be disruptive. I wanted our players to know that if the defense does this, this is what shot we need to take and you have to take some responsibility for the players out there.”
Howard said, “I was just trying to work on my pace and just take the lid off the goal. I knew we had to come out faster than what we did last week so we were just trying to focus on running the plays.”
Senior guard Hayes said, “I think we just hit shots. We felt good. We started out the game well and we tried to keep it up. The fact that we were able to build a big lead early, I was just doing whatever I could do to help them out.”
Despite the win, UK dropped a spot in the national poll.
No. 20 TENNESSEE (5-0)
In their only game of the week, the Lady Vols welcomed in Stetson, which had already lost by more than 20 at Kentucky. The Lady Vols moved into the Top 20, a jump of four.
So far, coach Kellie Jolley is drawing 7,246 at home. This was the second of eight winnable home games.
They have the longest win streak in conference. One suggestion of success: Their rebounding margin tops the league at 18.
In the second of six straight winnable home games, they cruised, 73-46, as 7,246 cheered the offensive effort.
Five players hit double figures. Most notable was the sighting of junior center Kasiyahna Kushkituah with 11 off the bench. She was part of that best recruiting class in the nation.
It is now down to two, she and Rennie Davis. Kushkituah injured a knee her first season and is finally back to form. She adds depth adds off the bench.
Though it is 5-0 for the third season in a row it is new for coach Kellie Harper.
Freshman Jordan Horston scored 14 and junior Rennia Davis 15. Burrell had her first career double/double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Tennessee out-rebounded the Hatters 48-32, continuing the string of winning the boards in every game this season.
UT started with rainbows, with six 3s at the start, hitting 66.7 percent from behind the arc in the opening quarter.
Horston hit two of the six 3s. The offensive thrust continued and UT led 58-35 at the end of three.
Sophomore guard Jasmine Massengill smiled at the idea of all the 3s going down at the start.
“We always think all of our shots are going in,” she said “So it was nice to see it happen. We were prepared to shoot the ball. Coach Kellie makes it easy.
“We work at our craft.”
Harper said, “It’s good to production from multiple people We performed better than we performed last week. It’s more than points. A lot of people are doing the little things.
“Out shootaround today was as bad as 3-point shooting as you could shoot. Our players can make shots. They were taking good shots, open looks. We have good players. They get in the gym and work on it.”
Unlike during Warlick’s final seasons, Harper has been able to transition practices to games.
Warlick was consistently saying she could not explain why great practices simply did not stay consistent at game time.
“Our practices got better,” said Harper. “We made some adjustments in the game. I am proud of hoe they reacted. Our motivation is for us to be better.”
No. 25 ARKANSAS (5-1)
In the first few minutes against Belmont, the Razorbacks opened a 20-point advantage, 14 from team leader Chelsea Dungee.
Belmont is no punk team. It launched Florida coach Cam Neubauer to this level. He was 4-0 until running into his first ranked teams.
Arkansas rocked steady to 49-18 in the second Dungee was 7-of-9 (3-of-5 3s), 2-of-3 from the line.
The Razor backs were hitting 62 percent from the field.
Three players hit at least 20, Dungee and SEC freshman of the week Makayla Daniels with 21 and senior guard Alexis Tolefree with 20, including 5-of-8 3s. With all the substitutions, no one doubled, but
Arkansas won the boards, 40-28.
Coach Mike Neighbors said, “It’s not like you see on film for them. `They’re a lot faster, coach, than what that film showed.’ is what you get. I’ve been in that seat.
“Probably our most complete of the five we’ve played. They were a team that has been in the NCAA so that was good for us. It’s about us.
“We put in new things each week. If you watch our films, we’ll have something new. I have not had the luxury of playing everyone which will help down the road.
“We got a new strength coach. They show their muscles a lot. They flexed on them and hey did it without fouling.
“All our kids took it upon themselves. You look at Makayla Daniels drew eight fouls tonight. Layups, free throws and 3s, that’s what wins.”
“We matched their intensity,” Dungee said. “Starting out the game well is something we want to make our foundation, to set in stone, which we did not do last year. It comes from preparation, paying attention. Our goals have risen.”
“It was the most physical game we’ve played all season,” Daniels said. You have to have heart and step up. We all have the common goal.
“There is surprise this year It can be anyone (on the team).”
They drew 1,608.
Besides being the first road game of the season, Neighbors said adjusting to the West Coast time zone was important as was the players getting to see the Berkeley culture. “It is something any of them have not seen before,” he said. “I was looking forward to showing them that as well.”
The cultural exchange handled, the Razorbacks did not defend the SEC against Cal and the Pac 12, 84-60. The Golden Bears entered unranked and 2-2.
Cal started hot from the field, 57 percent, but Arkansas led 14-11.
Dungee and Amber Ramirez each had five.
Cal upped its percentage to 66 percent (against a 39 percent average), but Arkansas held on at the end of the first, 25-20.
They have scored at least 20 in 18 quarters.
Dungee developed a defensive problem against 6-4 senior CJ West, who cut the lead to one and had her 10-point average, 4-of-5 from the field, with 10 rebounds.
Cal scored seven unanswered in the final 90 seconds and spun into a 47-39 halftime lead. The Golden Bears caught a break when a foul at the buzzer was ruled at 0.1 and both free throws were good. No one could imagine how big that film review would prove to be.
Arkansas fell in love with 3 attempts and missed 10. Dungee scored 13. But Cal had won rebounds by 10.
Cal senior Jaelyn Brown scored 19 against a 10-point average with 10 rebounds.
Arkansas cut the lead to one in the first five minutes of the third. Dungee used 7-of-7 from the line to get to 20 points.
But Cal persevered for a 70-64 lead with one quarter left. It was obvious this was their night.
An Erin Barnum layin made it 77-76. But Cal had a four-point lead with 90 seconds left as Arkansas had gone cold, not scoring for three minutes.
They won the second half by seven.
Cal had 28 defensive rebounds. They won rebounds, 49-32. Their bench won, 25-6.
Some day this season, Neighbors ought to look back at this one and wonder why. It certainly revealed the Razorbacks have to play at their best every night.
They cannot defend against a strong center.
In conference, South Carolina will offer a similar challenge.
West finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Brown had 30 with 12 rebounds, 10 offensive.
Unfortunately, the reality is only 1,032 bothered to show. All but one SEC team averages more than that.
It was 77-72 with six to go.
Arkansas missed two attempts at rebounds with 5.2 seconds left, down by two. Two intentional fouls led to free throws and the final.
“You just walk in the locker room and tell them. ‘This is fixable’,” said coach Neighbors. “We can’t be disappointed. We didn’t get a lot of good looks. It’s the Pac 12 way.
“We will learn an awful lot about us,” he said, “We all had one or two ‘our bads.’ It’s a good film for us to have.
“We had one turnover in the second half. But they had momentum and brought the crowd into it. I hope all the people at home realize how they carry us through. We would have won at home.”
This is Cal coach Charmin Smith’s first season and so a statement win. By losing convincingly to a unranked team in its first game away from campus, the Razorbacks dropped into the last ranking spot, the biggest fail of the week among all ranked teams.
Arkansas will spend Thanksgiving in the Bahamas, prepping for a two-day holiday festival.
