Only four teams remain undefeated after the first week of conference play as Connecticut (16-0), Iowa State (14-0), Indiana (14-0) and Notre Dame (13-0) have managed to remain unscathed.
Connecticut has dominated opponents on the way to the 16-0 start, winning by an average margin of 37.8 points per game. Closest margin of victory for the Huskies so far this season was a 17-point win against Maryland on Nov. 15. Connecticut will play host to Temple on Saturday before a road test at No. 7 Baylor on Monday. The Lady Bears feature a high-powered attack that averages 95.4 points per game and is paced by the nation’s leading scorer in Odyssey Sims.The 14 straight wins by Iowa State is the longest winning streak in school history. Next up for the Cyclones will be a visit by Oklahoma State on Saturday.
In addition to being undefeated, Indiana is ranked No. 22 in The Associated Press Top 25 Poll, the highest ranking in school history and just the second time the Hoosiers have ever been ranked in the AP poll (Jan. 19, 1993). Next up for the Hoosiers will be a visit by Ohio State on Saturday.
New to the Atlantic Coast Conference, Notre Dame opened league play with a 71-51 win against Clemson on Sunday. Circle the calendar for Notre Dame’s non-conference game at Tennessee on Jan. 20, as well as new conference rival games against Maryland (Jan. 27), Duke (Feb. 2 and 23), Florida State (Feb. 6), North Carolina (Feb. 27) and NC State (March 2).
Sims continues to shine
Leading the nation with an average of 32.1 points per game, Baylor guard Odyssey Sims shows no signs of letting up. Her latest exclamation point of a game came at West Virginia’s expense Wednesday night when she scored a career-high 48 points and set a Baylor mark for career 3-pointers in a 78-62 victory. Sims made six 3-pointers and now has a school-record 201 for her career. Sims is averaging 39 points per game in the first three Big 12 Conference games. She also had a career-high 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.
Stewart has game to remember
Middle Tennessee senior KeKe Stewart put on one of the most prolific outside shooting displays in the history of women’s college basketball, coming within one of the NCAA single-game record for made 3-pointers while tying the mark for attempts in an 86-42 win against North Texas in both teams’ inaugural Conference USA contest Wednesday night. Stewart tied the NCAA record with 26 3-point attempts while connecting on 11 from behind the arc while scoring a career-high 35 points.
Wichita State surging
Wichita State won its ninth consecutive game Sunday while also securing the best start to a season in program history. With a mark of 10-2, the Shockers surpassed 1998-99 team that started that season 9-2.
Coaching milestone
Michigan head coach Kim Barnes Arico surpassed 300 career wins when the Wolverines defeated Southern on Dec. 20.
Double-double club
Coaches crave consistency. No other statistical category reflects this more than a player being able to consistently post double figures in points and rebounds, game in and game out. No one does the double-double better than Stanford senior Chiney Ogwumike, who is averaging 26.6 points and 11.6 rebounds per game this season. Always a consistent scorer and rebounder, Ogwumike came into the season averaging a double-double for her career. Her 26.6 points per game average is third best in the nation.
There are currently nine players in Division I averaging at least 20 points and 10 rebounds per game, including:
For starters
Connecticut senior Stefanie Dolson currently has the longest current streak of consecutive starts with 128. Here’s the top 10:
