By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru
To preface before getting underway, this is the actual 50th anniversary birthdate of The Associated Press women’s poll launched 889 ranking weeks ago in 1976 appearing just in The Philadelphia Inquirer the first two seasons before the AP came aboard.
There’s a story in the paper in the Friday section with links on the Guru’s facebook and X accounts with lots more celebratory events coming across this season.
Meanwhile, Feast Week hits the buffet portion Friday and Saturday, but no one had a better meal in the front end of appetizers and salad than No. 4 Texas (7-0) which swept to the first Players Era event for women in Las Vegas taking a big lead on No.3 UCLA (7-1) and then holding on to beat the Bruins 76-65 on Wednesday.
A day later the Longhorns followed Thursday night on Rori Harmon’s game-winning shot with a second left to beat Southeastern Conference rival and No. 2 South Carolina 66-64 in the championship.
Texas will only see the Gamecocks (7-1) once in SEC play, traveling later to Columbia, though the two could also meet in the conference tournament and once more in NCAA play pending on bracket placements and mutual success so while the duo have the potential to be stuffed with each meeting as many as four times on the road to a national title they will be one short of becoming absolutely gorged.
If the Longhorns had a delightful week in Vegas, the home of the WNBA champion ACES, no one had a more miserable time than Duke (3-5), who lost to South Carolina 83-66 in the opener and then in the third place game went down 89-59 to UCLA, whose potential high lottery pick center Lauren Betts was sidelined with a left arm injury suffered in the loss to Texas.
When the power field was assembled, someone was going to go 0-2 suffering the fate of those losing shirts in the casinos, but the Blue Devils under former Tennessee star and Olympic coach Kara Lawson began the season ranked seventh and arrived West already suffering upsets to then-No. 16 Baylor on opening day in Paris, then at unranked West Virginia to a Mountaineers team reduced to five players after the half in the wake of a slew of ejections – a result that sent Duke out of the rankings and then losing at unranked South Florida in Tampa.
In the Texas win over UCLA, Harmon scored 26 points in a game UCLA fell short in a rally from a 23-point deficit late in the third quarter.
Madison Booker added 16 points for the Longhorns with seven boards and five assists while Jordan Lee scored 13 points and Justice Carlton scored 10.
After UCLA on a 24-7 run drew within four points, the Bruins had three failed possessions, a missed shot from deep and a pair of turnovers as the rally died.
Kiki Rice and Utah transfer Gianna Kneepkens each scored 17 points for UCLA while Washington State transfer Charlisse Leger-Walker shot 50% from the field for 13 points.
In Wednesday’s other game, South Carolina’s Madina Okot scored 23 points in the win over Duke while Joyce Edwards scored 22 points, Ta’Niya Latson scored 12 and Raven Johnson scored 10.
The Blue Devils’ Toby Fournier scored 16 points, Riley Wilson collected 14 points, and Ashlon Jackson scored 11.
Dawn Staley’s winners outscored Duke 58-28 in the paint.
On Thursday, in the championship Jordan Lee scored 19 for Texas, which beat South Carolina in Austin in their debut SEC season but lost in Columbia, the conference championship and the national championship semifinal.
Harmon had nine assists to pass now Washington State coach Kamie Etheridge as the career leader at Texas and was the event’s MVP.
“When it came time for the last shot, it’s always gonna be her,” Texas coach Vic Schaefer said.
Booker scored 16 with nine boards while Carlton had 13 and eight boards.
South Carolina’s Latson and Edwards each scored 16 points, Tessa Johnson scored 13 and Okot, who has double doubled in six games had 12 points and11 rebounds.
In the UCLA game, Leger- Walker was 5-9 from deep on the way to 20 points, three less than Gabriela Jackson at 23, Rice scored 17, Kneepkins had 13, and Angela Dugalic completed all five Bruins starters in double figures with 12 points.
The Blue Devils’ Jackson scored 18, Fournier double doubled with 17 points and 10 boards while Delaney Thomas had 10 points and eight boards.
UCLA next hosts No. 14 Tennessee Sunday in Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles at 4:30 p.m. on FS1.
It doesn’t get easier either for Duke which hosts No. 5 LSU Thursday at 9 p.m. on ESPN as part of the ACC-SEC Challenge.
South Carolina in the same event next goes to No. 23 Louisville the same night at 7 p.m. on ESPN. Texas is also in the same event the same night at 7 p.m. hosting No. 12 North Carolina on ESPN but first the Longhorns host Penn Sunday at at 2 p.m. on SECN+.
The Quakers (5-2), one of three locals playing Friday, got their two-step Texas trip started winning 78-44 at St. Thomas as Katie Collins had 18 points and eight boards and was a perfect 6-6 from deep while Mataya Gayle scored 14 points.
The other local games coming at night had Rutgers hosting Northeastern at 7 p.m. on B1G+ at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, N.J., while Temple looked to snap a two-game losing streak meeting No. 20 Michigan State at 6:30 p.m. in the second game of the Baha Mar Hoops Junkanoo Division opener in Nassau, Bahamas, following the Clemson-Western Carolina game at 4 p.m.
Winners and Losers meet Sunday.
Down in the Tropics
Locales in the Caribbean is where many teams enjoy Feast Week at multiple team events tied to the Thanksgiving holiday.
Also dining well so far is No. 7 Maryland (9-0) which consumed its main course Wednesday with a 74-66 win over No. 16 Kentucky (7-1) in the Discover Puerto Rican Classic as Rutgers transfer Kaylene Smikle scored 22 and Yarden Garzon scored 17 while Addie Mack scored 15 points and Saylor Poffenbarger scored 12.
Tonie Morgan scored 22 with eight assists for Kentucky which in the non-tournament event was off until meeting Morgan State late Friday afternoon.
The Terrapins continued Thursday with a lopsided 95-38 win over Hofstra (1-4) as Smikle scored 13 leading three teammates who each scored 10 points in a game they crushed the boards with a 40-17 advantage.
Maryland next hosts Mt. St. Mary’s Wednesday.
Elsewhere in the same event, UCF beat East Carolina 75-61 on Wednesday and lost to Wake Forest 65-60 in overtime Thursday – the Deacons on Wednesday and beat Morgan State 93-35 while East Carolina romped 72-53 over Hofstra Friday.
Rice edged Illinois State 75-72 in overtime on Wednesday and then had it easier beating Morgan State 75-44 Thursday. The Owls also met UCF Friday while Wake Forest went 3-0 with a 57-44 win over Illinois State on Friday.
The other notable outcome involving a ranked team Wednesday came in the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo championship in which Ohio State (5-1) bounced off Sunday’s loss at No. 1 Connecticut to upset No. 21 West Virginia 83-81 as Jaloni Cambridge scored 22 points and Elsa Lemmila pushed the Buckeyes in front of the Mountaineers (6-1) with 24.9 seconds left.
Gia Cooke scored 24 for West Virginia, which hosts Villanova Monday while Ohio State hosts Niagara Sunday.
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