Women's basketball daily report: 1/4 edition

We’ve rebranded. The women’s basketball daily report will give you everything you need to know heading into the day of women’s hoops.

You’ll get a recap of the best performances, notable results and a key storyline from each night of play. We’ll also look forward to the day, noting a big matchup and a player to watch in the slate.

1. Weekly takeaway: Nobody is safe

The biggest takeaway of the week is that this season is not like season’s past. Parity does exist, folks. There are four teams in the ‘elite’ tier this year who are most likely safe from the random upsets we’ve seen occur, but the rest of the country is fair game. 

The Top 10 is completely anew and conference play has caused chaos. Now it’s time to figure out which results were truly upsets and which teams are simply good and earned a big win. 

Here’s my take on a few so far:

Notre Dame is having a down year, but that Georgia Tech loss was an upset. The Big Ten is deep and very good, so all of those ‘upsets’ from this week were mostly just good teams earning good wins. LSU has work to do and neither of their losses were upsets. 

2. One game to look forward to today: Minnesota/Michigan

The best game of the day is certainly Michigan vs. Minnesota. The Wolverines are going through a rough patch right now after a near loss to Oregon in 2OT and a loss to Washington, who was then-unranked. 

This is a win they really need, but it may not be one that comes easily. Minnesota gave us one of the best games of the year in a 2OT thriller vs. Maryland and they’ll come to fight tonight.

Michigan likes to play fast; Minnesota plays at one of the slowest paces in the country. Both are phenomenal defensive teams who don’t turn the ball over very often. It should be a fun one.

3. Keep an eye on: Alana Nelson

Purdue Fort Wayne faces off against IU Indy tonight. One player to keep an eye on is Purdue FW’s Alana Nelson. She’s averaging 21.2 points per game over the last five contests and is playing 36.5 minutes, which ranks in the 99th percentile of all players nationally.

She’s shooting the ball at a 62.5% clip from 2-range and 40.6% from deep over the last five games as well. Her output has improved considerably and I’ll look for her to keep Purdue FW on track tonight. When these two teams faced off in December, Nelson had 23 points, two rebounds, three assists and a steal in the win.

4. Notable results

Texas 67, Ole Miss 64

Vanderbilt 65, LSU 61

Baylor 72, Iowa State 70

Stanford 77, UNC 71 in OT

Duke 82, Notre Dame 68

Michigan State 81, Illinois 75

Hofstra 54, UNCW 46

Stony Brook 73, William & Mary 57 in OT

Belmont 75, Illinois State 68

West Virginia 60, Kansas State 58

Xavier 52, Georgetown 51

Virginia 91, Florida State 87 in 2OT

Clemson 70, Miami 55

Georgia 64, Texas A&M 56 in OT

Liberty 86, UTEP 66

Santa Clara 77, Gonzaga 73

Milwaukee 66, Cleveland State 58

Marquette 85, Villanova 69

Wisconsin 74, Penn State 73

Murray State 93, Bradley 82 in 2OT

5. Key statlines

Ole Miss’ Cotie McMahon: 19 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal

South Carolina’s Madina Okot: 12 points, 17 rebounds, 5 steals, 3 blocks

Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes: 32 points, 4 assists, 3 steals

Maryland’s Oluchi Okananwa: 34 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals

Baylor’s Darianna Littlepage-Buggs: 13 points, 20 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks

Stanford’s Courtney Ogden: 21 points, 4 rebounds

Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo: 22 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, 1 block

Duke’s Taina Mair: 23 points, 4/4 from deep, 6 rebounds, 6 assists

New Haven’s Aniya McDonald-Perry: 22 points, 10/10 FG, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 1 block

Elon’s LaNae’ Corbett: 28 points, 2 steals

Monmouth’s Gigi Gamble: 25 points, 4/7 from deep, 1 steal

Charleston’s Taryn Barbot: 29 points, 8/11 from deep, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks

FIU’s Parris Atkins: 35 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals

Belmont’s Hilary Fuller: 27 points, 9 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 blocks

Kansas’ Jaliya Davis: 26 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks

UCF’s Leah Harmon: 38 points, 2 steals

Creighton’s Kennedy Townsend: 16 points, 4/5 from deep, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks

Virginia’s Kymora Johnson: 31 points, 8 rebounds, 11 assists, 1 steal, 1 block

Clemson’s Raven Thompson: 24 points, 4/6 from deep, 5 rebounds, 2 assists

Texas A&M’s Fatmata Janneh: 18 points, 17 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block

Georgia’s Dani Carnegie: 23 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals

Kennesaw State’s Kailyn Fields: 22 points, 6/9 from deep, 6 assists, 2 steals

Liberty’s Avery Mills: 22 points, 6/8 from deep, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks

UIC’s Jessica Carrothers: 20 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals

Providence’s Orlagh Gormley: 15 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 9 steals

Washington State’s Alex Covill: 26 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals, 7 blocks

Marquette’s Halle Vice: 32 points, 4/4 from deep, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block

Penn State’s Kiyomi McMiller: 36 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists

Georgia Tech’s Talayah Walker: 30 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 7 steals, 2 blocks

LMU’s Jess Lawson: 32 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists

Pitt’s Theresa Hagans Jr.: 24 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals

Bradley’s Maya Foz: 29 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals

Murray State’s Sharnecce Currie-Jelks: 24 points, 20 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals, 3 blocks