Recapping Sunday's busy top 25 slate of women's college basketball
Crazy Sunday of women's basketball filled with nail-biters and stellar performances
A jam-packed Sunday in women's college basketball is all said and done.
We saw No. 13 Michigan hold off No. 5 Baylor in overtime to earn its first top-5 win in program history. No. 6 Louisville came back to take down No. 7 UConn, thanks to great shooting from deep. There was also eight ranked teams to win by double digits.
Check out all the top-25 final scores from Sunday:
- No. 2 NC State 82, Virginia 55| Final
- No. 13 Michigan 74, No. 5 Baylor 68 | Final (OT)
- No. 6 Louisville 68, No. 7 UConn 64 | Final
- No. 10 Indiana 67, Western Michigan 57 | Final
- No. 11 Texas 74, San Diego 58| Final
- No. 12 Iowa State 108, Prairie View 39 | Final
- No. 17 Georgia 82, Saint Francis (PA) 45 | Final
- No. 18 Georgia Tech 62, Wake Forest 45| Final
- No. 19 Kentucky 67, USC Upstate 44 | Final
- No. 21 Notre Dame 85, Pittsburgh 59 | Final
- No. 25 North Carolina 76, Boston College 73 | Final
No. 6 Louisville comes back to beat No. 7 UConn
After constantly playing from behind, No. 6 Louisville took the lead with about seven minutes left to play. The Cardinals held on to win 68-64 over No. 7 Uconn.
Lousiville's three-point shooting helped earn the win. The Cards were 8-15 from beyond the arc. Hailey Van Lith and Ahlana Smith combined for five of the team's eight three pointers. Van Lith entered the second half with just two points, but was able to go on a tear to finish with 15.
UConn's Caroline Ducharme also had an impressive performance with a total of 24 points and eight rebounds in the loss for the Huskies.
HVL IS CLUTCH 🙌
— Louisville WBB (@UofLWBB) December 19, 2021
Watch @espn: https://t.co/2WBqXIPUp1#GoCards pic.twitter.com/xnG2UsI7zq
Close game between Louisville and UConn heads to halftime
No. 7 UConn takes a 28-25 lead into the half against No. 6 Louisville. The Huskies are led by Dorka Juhasz who has nine points and four rebounds so far in this top-10 contest.
UConn opened the game by getting out to a 12-2 lead. The Cardinals fought back thanks to help from Ahlana Smith with nine points to make it a three-point game at the half.
Dorka Juhász
— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) December 19, 2021
AND-1 pic.twitter.com/TzaZb4rBZj
No. 13 Michigan pulls off upset over No. 5 Baylor in OT
After tying the game with 39 seconds left and forcing overtime shortly after, No. 13 Michigan gets the upset over No. 5 Baylor by the score of 72-68. Prior to this game, Michigan was 0-33 all-time against top-5 teams.
The Wolverines were led by Leigha Brown who recorded 23 points. Naz Hillmon also had a solid performance with a double-double, 15 points and 10 rebounds. Rebounds proved to be a big difference maker as Michigan had 50 to Baylor's 35.
Top. Five. Win.#GoBlue pic.twitter.com/l8Hcm5PCMd
— Michigan Women’s Basketball (@umichwbball) December 19, 2021
Baylor, Michigan go to OT in top-15 matchup
The first of two top-15 matchups will be going to overtime as No. 13 Michigan tied the game at 59 with 39 seconds left in the fourth quarter. No. 5 Baylor couldn't win the game on their final possession after a couple missed chances.
The last time these two teams met, it went to overtime in the 2021 Sweet 16 when Baylor won 78-75.
What a find from LB to EK to tie the game.
— Michigan Women’s Basketball (@umichwbball) December 19, 2021
Headed to OT...catch us on ESPN!#GoBlue pic.twitter.com/VqihsgldnE
North Carolina wins nail-biter at Boston College
No. 25 North Carolina's Deja Kelly came up clutch to keep the Tar Heels undefeated (10-0) as they win 76-73 at Boston College. Kelly put up 19 in the win, she was one of three UNC players to finish with 15 or more points Carlie Littlefield (22), Eva Hodgson (15).
Deja Kelly CLUTCH 🔥 @dejakelly25 @uncwbb wins it in a thriller and remains undefeated! pic.twitter.com/2iPs5pV0jE
— ACC Network (@accnetwork) December 19, 2021
Indiana-Western Michigan delayed due to shot clock issue
Today's game against Western Michigan has been delayed as we work out a shot clock issue inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
— Indiana Women’s Basketball (@IndianaWBB) December 19, 2021
Stay tuned for updates.
Tale of the tape: No. 6 Louisville vs. No. 7 UConn
Louisville and UConn are two of DI women's college basketball's best teams this season, and their matchup Sunday afternoon will have big implications on the next AP poll.
Click here for the latest AP poll.
The Cardinals enter Sunday 9-1 with their most recent game coming on Thursday when they took down Eastern Kentucky, 82-38. The Huskies come into today's game with a record of 6-2. Their most recent game was a 71-61 win over UCLA on Dec. 11.
Here's how these two teams stack up:
| Louisville | STAT | UConn |
|---|---|---|
| 70.3 | Points Per Game | 70.3 |
| .459 | Field Goal % | .470 |
| .354 | 3-point % | .331 |
| .721 | Free-throw % | .684 |
| 41.1 | Rebounds Per Game | 38.5 |
| 15.1 | Assists Per Game | 17.6 |
| 15.3 | Turnovers Per Game | 15.0 |
| 10.3 | Steals Per Game | 7.3 |
| 4.5 | Blocks Per Game | 4.6 |
Tale of the tape: No. 5 Baylor vs. No. 13 Michigan
Sunday marks the first time Baylor and Michigan will tip off head-to-head since their incredible matchup in last year's Sweet 16. The Bears edged out the Wolverines, 78-75, after a memorable overtime to move onto the Elite Eight.
Watch the full overtime finish here.
Baylor enters Sunday's matchup 9-1 and fresh off a 94-40 win over Alcorn State. Michigan comes in with a record of 10-1. Its most recent win came exactly one week ago against Minnesota.
Here's how the squads stack up so far in 2021.
| Baylor | STAT | Michigan |
|---|---|---|
| 75.3 | Points Per Game | 72.0 |
| .448 | Field Goal % | .452 |
| .327 | 3-point % | .310 |
| .705 | Free-throw % | .743 |
| 42.2 | Rebounds Per Game | 38.7 |
| 16.9 | Assists Per Game | 12.9 |
| 12.9 | Turnovers Per Game | 15.5 |
| 6.4 | Steals Per Game | 7.1 |
| 4.0 | Blocks Per Game | 2.6 |
Sunday's schedule: Top 25 women's basketball games
When the DI women's college basketball season ends, we could look back on Sunday as one of the most exciting and action-packed of the season.
Here's the full slate of games today featuring teams in the latest AP Top 25 poll (all times ET):
- No. 2 NC State 82, Virginia 55| Final
- No. 13 Michigan 74, No. 5 Baylor 68 | Final (OT)
- No. 6 Louisville 68, No. 7 UConn 64 | Final
- No. 10 Indiana 67, Western Michigan 57 | Final
- No. 11 Texas 74, San Diego 58| Final
- No. 12 Iowa State 108, Prairie View 39 | Final
- No. 17 Georgia 82, Saint Francis (PA) 45 | Final
- No. 18 Georgia Tech 62, Wake Forest 45| Final
- No. 19 Kentucky 67, USC Upstate 44 | Final
- No. 21 Notre Dame 85, Pittsburgh 59 | Final
- No. 25 North Carolina 76, Boston College 73 | Final
Here are the Top 25 games canceled due to COVID-19:
- No. 4 Arizona vs. No. 11 Texas
- No. 15 Duke at Miami (Fla.)
- No. 23 Texas A&M vs. Rice
Click or tap here to see the full DI women's basketball scoreboard for Sunday, Dec. 19.
Latest women's college basketball rankings
Below is the most recent AP Top 25 women's basketball poll, from Monday, Dec. 13. The next set of rankings will be released Monday, Dec. 20.
|
RANK |
SCHOOL |
RECORD |
POINTS |
PREVIOUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Carolina (30) | 10-0 | 750 | 1 |
| 2 | NC State | 8-1 | 720 | 2 |
| 3 | Stanford | 6-2 | 651 | 4 |
| 4 | Arizona | 9-0 | 634 | 6 |
| 5 | Baylor | 9-1 | 620 | 5 |
| 6 | Louisville | 8-1 | 594 | 7 |
| T7 | UConn | 6-2 | 556 | 3 |
| T7 | Tennessee | 9-0 | 556 | 9 |
| 9 | Maryland | 9-3 | 518 | 8 |
| 10 | Indiana | 8-2 | 515 | 10 |
| 11 | Texas | 7-1 | 464 | 11 |
| 12 | Iowa State | 10-1 | 402 | 15 |
| 13 | Michigan | 10-1 | 400 | 13 |
| 14 | Iowa | 5-2 | 316 | 12 |
| 15 | Duke | 8-0 | 294 | 19 |
| 16 | South Florida | 6-3 | 254 | 17 |
| 17 | Georgia | 8-1 | 195 | 21 |
| 18 | Georgia Tech | 8-2 | 184 | NR |
| 19 | Kentucky | 6-3 | 170 | 14 |
| 20 | BYU | 8-1 | 158 | 16 |
| 21 | Notre Dame | 9-2 | 146 | 22 |
| 22 | LSU | 7-1 | 123 | 24 |
| 23 | Texas A&M | 9-2 | 115 | 18 |
| 24 | Ohio State | 7-2 | 89 | 20 |
| 25 | North Carolina | 9-0 | 64 | NR |