Women's basketball watchlist: 11/25 edition

Feast Week rolls on. Let’s dive into some takeaways from yesterday’s slate.

1. Big Ten = deepest conference

I’d suspected this since the season started, but now it really feels like it’s becoming more evident. The Big Ten, with its 18 teams, is incredibly deep. While I think the SEC could fight for this title as well, I think the Big Ten has the edge this year for the deepest conference. 

At the top, UCLA, Michigan and Maryland are clearly among the nation’s best. But even as you go down past the Top 25 teams nationally, Minnesota is 5-1 with a win over USF, Penn State is 5-1 and has looked much-improved. Even Northwestern, who’s really struggled over the past few years, looks like they could put up more of a fight. 

2. Texas A&M suffers first loss

Texas A&M was previously undefeated at 4-0, with a couple of decent wins that felt promising. Well, last night they suffered their first loss of the year to 3-4 UT Arlington in the form of a buzzer-beater from Kira Reynolds. 

This loss is far from season-ending, but it certainly is disappointing for a Texas A&M team that had some momentum. 

3. Notable results

Ohio State 68, Belmont 56

MTSU 54, Providence 48

Minnesota 57, USF 45

Auburn 59, UTSA 42

Alabama 80, Harvard 60

UIC 66, Ball State 64

Troy 74, Montana State 60

Florida 59, FAU 51

Cal 68, Grand Canyon 63

UC Davis 70, Sacramento State 67 in OT

4. Key stat lines

Oklahoma State’s Haleigh Timmer: 25 points, 5/9 from deep, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals

Ole Miss’ Cotie McMahon: 29 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks

Belmont’s Tuti Jones: 19 points, 4/7 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals

Ohio State’s Kylee Kitts: 12 points, 15 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks

Penn State’s Gracie Merkle: 26 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block

San Diego State’s Nat Martinez: 24 points, 5/10 from deep, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 blocks

MTSU’s Alayna Contreras: 22 points, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block

UT Arlington’s Kira Reynolds: 22 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks

Coastal Carolina’s Kristin Williams: 23 points, 6/7 from deep, 2 assists, 4 steals

Saint Joseph’s Aleah Sneed: 18 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 steals, 2 blocks

Alabama’s Jessica Timmons: 25 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal

Hampton’s Olivia Smith: 19 points, 4/8 from deep, 2 assists, 2 steals

Ohio’s Bailey Tabeling: 19 points, 4/8 from deep, 6 rebounds, 2 steals

Montana State’s Taylee Chirrick: 21 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 6 steals, 1 block

Troy’s Fortuna Ngnawo: 19 points, 10 rebounds, 1 block

Columbia’s Perri Page: 13 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 8 steals

Florida’s Me’Arah O’Neal: 11 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 5 blocks

Monmouth’s Alexis Davis: 17 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block

Rutgers’ Nene Ndiaye: 26 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals

Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo: 25 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 6 steals

Nevada’s Gabby Ramos: 20 points, 5/8 from deep, 2 steals

UC Davis’ Ryann Bennett: 25 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals

Sacramento State’s Natalie Picton: 24 points, 6/8 from deep, 5 rebounds, 2 steals