Women's basketball takeaways: 12/29 edition

It was a fun day of women’s basketball. Here are my takeaways.

1. An ugly basketball game can be a great one

Michigan at Oregon was not pretty basketball. The free throw shooting was abysmal, players were exhausted and they certainly could’ve taken better care of the ball. 

But boy, was it fun. 

A clock malfunction sent it to overtime after Oregon fought their way back from a 16-point deficit at halftime. Michigan’s Olivia Olson made a great play to send the game to double-OT and the Wolverines pulled out the road win, outlasting the Ducks. 

I’ve seen a lot of discourse about the amount of blowouts we’ve had in women’s basketball and the lack of storylines, but then we get a game like this and I see complaints all over my timeline. Good, fun, entertaining basketball doesn’t have to be pretty. This was a dogfight and that’s what I want to see. 

Anyways, rant over. I had a ton of fun with this game, even if the free throw shooting was, uh, less than stellar. 

2. Notable results

Michigan 92, Oregon 87 in 2OT

USC 74, Nebraska 66 

Army 64, Howard 56

Binghamton 62, Fairleigh Dickinson 51

Youngstown State 70, Cleveland State 63

Oakland 61, Robert Morris 58 in OT

Minnesota 71, Indiana 48

Virginia 76, SMU 52

St. John’s 73, Marquette 66

Tarleton State 66, UT Arlington 57

3. Key statlines

Maryland’s Oluchi Okananwa: 28 points, 3/4 from deep, 5 rebounds, 6 steals

Oregon’s Katie Fiso: 24 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals

Michigan’s Ashley Sofilkanich: 16 points, 8 rebounds

USC’s Kennedy Smith: 17 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks

Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo: 30 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals

Army’s Kya Smith: 27 points, 22 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block

Drake’s Abbie Aalsma: 30 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists

UIC’s Jessica Carrothers: 26 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists

Auburn’s Mya Petticord: 21 points, 4/5 from deep, 2 rebounds

Columbia’s Riley Weiss: 24 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals

Merrimack’s Madison Roman: 20 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 steals

Binghamton’s Kendall Bennett: 21 points, 15 rebounds, 1 block

Penn’s Katie Collins: 18 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 blocks

Robert Morris’ Bailey Kuhns: 23 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal

New Orleans’ Brialle Washington: 26 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, 1 block

SFA’s Kaylinn Kemp: 22 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal, 1 block

Belmont’s Avery Strickland: 22 points, 4/7 from deep, 4 rebounds, 2 assists

Murray State’s Halli Poock: 29 points, 5 assists

Villanova’s Brynn McCurry: 18 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists

Northern Kentucky’s Karina Bystry: 25 points, 4/7 from deep, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block

Illinois State’s Kya Hurt: 26 points, 4/6 from deep, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals

Northwestern’s Grace Sullivan: 30 points, 8 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 blocks

Washington’s Avery Howell: 23 points, 6/9 from deep, 5 rebounds, 3 steals

Cal Baptist’s Lauren Olsen: 20 points, 4/7 from deep, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal