It was another thrilling week in women's basketball. Here are five of the best from last week:
Cameron Brink, Stanford
Cameron Brink of Stanford became just the second player in Pac-12 Conference history to record a triple-double with blocks, recording her first career triple-double with 16 points, 11 rebounds and a Stanford single-game record 10 blocks in a 62-54 home win over Oregon on Sunday.
The win over Oregon capped a 2-0 week for the 21-2 Cardinal, which also defeated Oregon State 63-60 on Jan. 27 as Brink had 21 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks. Over the two games Brink averaged 18.5 points, 12.0 rebounds and eight blocks per game.
With the triple-double including blocks, Brink joins Oregon State's Ruth Hamblin (23 points, 12 rebounds, 10 blocks vs. Oregon - Jan. 13, 2014) in the Pac-12 record book.
Brink, a junior forward from Beaverton, Oregon, has 22 blocks in the last three games, the most for a Pac-12 player in a three-game span over at least the last 20 seasons, and leads the country with 88 blocks this season. She now has a double-double in 10 of the last 13 games after tallying just one in the season's first 10 outings.
Stanford, now 9-1 in Pac-12 play, returns to action on Feb. 3 at Washington State.
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Ciaja Harbison, Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt’s Ciaja Harbison scored the most points by an individual player in the Southeastern Conference this season and tied a school record with a career-best 41 points in leading the Commodores to their first SEC win of the season, 88-79, over Texas A&M on Sunday.
Harbison finished 14 of 19 from the field and 11 of 13 from the free throw line to tie the single-game program record set by Chantelle Anderson in 2001 against Mississippi State. Anderson was in attendance to watch Harbison match her record as part of Alumni Day for the Commodores (10-12, 1-7 SEC).
Harbison, a graduate senior guard in her first season at Vanderbilt, scored in a variety of ways, draining 3-pointers, pull-up jumpers, floaters and driving layups to score 30-plus points for the third time this season. She scored 10 of Vanderbilt’s final 13 points, assisting on the other basket—a Belle LaChance 3-pointer—during that stretch after the Aggies cut the deficit to eight to seal the victory.
Harbison is the only player in the SEC currently ranked in the top five in scoring, assists and steals. She has scored in double figures 15 times this season and on 110 occasions in her collegiate career. Her previous career-high was 36 points, which she posted against St. Bonaventure last season while playing for Saint Louis.
Vanderbilt returns to action on Feb. 2 at Missouri.
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Emma Hess, Liberty
Liberty sophomore Emma Hess led the Lady Flames to road wins over Atlantic Sun Conference co-leaders Austin Peay and Lipscomb, averaging a team-high 21.0 points that included a team-best 11 three-pointers for the week.
A guard from Beavercreek, Ohio, Hess tied for the team lead with 14 points in a 71-66 win at Austin Peay on Jan. 26, knocking down four triples and hitting two game-sealing free throws with 0.8 seconds remaining.
Hess then produced the best game of her career Saturday at Lipscomb, setting career highs for both points (28) and three-pointers (7) in the 65-56 win. Three of her triples came during a 15-2 run to open the fourth quarter, which gave the Lady Flames a lead they never relinquished. The 28 points were the most by a Lady Flame since Dec. 6, 2020, when Emily Lytle had 30 at Memphis.
Riding a season-best five-game winning streak, Liberty (13-7 overall and 7-2 in ASUN play) will return home for a pair of games this week, hosting Jacksonville State on Feb. 2 and Kennesaw State on Feb. 4.
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Ja'Mia Hollings, Troy
Ja'Mia Hollings made Troy history by becoming just the second Trojan in the program's Division I history to score 20-plus points and pull down 20-plus rebounds in a game.
Hollings posted a pair of double-doubles last week in guiding the Trojans back to the top of the Sun Belt Conference standings. She scored 23 points and grabbed 20 rebounds in Troy's seventh straight win over rival South Alabama, 81-62 on Jan. 26, and followed with 19 points and 10 rebounds in a 23-point (100-77) victory over Georgia Southern on Jan. 28. Hollings added five blocks, five steals and three assists in the two games, in which Troy won by an average of 21 points.
With the two wins last week, Troy moved to 13-8 overall and 8-2 in league play and alone in first place in the Sun Belt standings heading into an important two-game road trip to Texas State (Feb. 2) and Louisiana (Feb. 4), both of which sit a game back of Troy in the standings.
Mackenzie Holmes, Indiana
Indiana upped its winning streak to eight games with key Big Ten Conference wins over Michigan, Ohio State and Rutgers as Mackenzie Holmes led the way for the Hoosiers.
The senior forward from Gorham, Maine averaged 24.0 points, 6.7 rebounds while shooting 70 percent from the floor in the three wins for Indiana last week while also averaging 1.3 blocks and 1.7 assists per game.
Holmes started off the week with a double-double, her ninth of the year, at No. 13 Michigan on Jan. 23 where she had 25 points and 10 rebounds in the 92-83 win. In the 78-65 victory on Thursday against No. 2 Ohio State, Holmes led the way with a team-high 26 points and chipped in four rebounds, an assist and a block while going 11-for-13 from the floor.
She finished the week by shooting 72.7 percent from the floor against Rutgers on Sunday in the 91-68 home win, converting on 8 of 11 shots and added six rebounds to go along with three assists, two steals and two blocks.
No. 4 Indiana, 20-1 overall and 10-1 in Big Ten play, will next face Minnesota on the road on Feb. 1.
