We’ve reached one of my favorite points of the college basketball season. That might seem like a strange statement since we’re past most of the high-profile nonconference matchups and not quite into league play. There aren’t too many games that immediately scream must-watch on the calendar.
But what has happened in the past week is a number of teams have gone on the road for the first time — and I’m talking true road games, not neutral sites or playing small in-state schools where traveling fans can outnumber the home crowd. These are honest-to-goodness hostile environments where road teams face real adversity. There’s nothing more illuminating than seeing how players respond in unfavorable situations when they can’t rely on their fan base to swing momentum back in their direction, but the schedule doesn’t provide too many opportunities before the start of conference play.
Thankfully, we got to see a good chunk of the top 25 take their shows on the road this week. Here’s what I learned.
| Rank | Team | Previous rank |
|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | |
2 | 2 | |
3 | 3 | |
4 | 5 | |
5 | 6 | |
6 | 8 | |
7 | 10 | |
8 | 4 | |
9 | 7 | |
10 | 9 | |
11 | 11 | |
12 | 12 | |
13 | 13 | |
14 | 16 | |
15 | 19 | |
16 | 15 | |
17 | 18 | |
18 | 17 | |
19 | 14 | |
20 | 22 | |
21 | 22 | |
22 | 24 | |
23 | 20 | |
24 | 25 | |
25 | NR |
Dropped out: UNLV
Almost famous: West Virginia, Washington St., Washington
Longhorns’ offense travels
Texas had played three neutral site games in the Virgin Islands during the first part of the schedule, but the total attendance during that tournament was dwarfed by the crowd in the McKale Center as the Longhorns took on Arizona in their first road contest of the season. There’s an adage that defense travels, but for the ninth-best defense in the country, it was the offense that made the trip for Texas. A third-quarter 3-point flurry from Shaylee Gonzales put the game away, and the fifth-year senior was merely one of five Longhorns who reached double figures. Rori Harmon was her usual dynamic self, Shay Holle got going in transition, and Madison Booker once again had no conscience in a big game.
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In particular, Taylor Jones was a nightmare matchup as a 6-foot-4 center with an impressive work rate who faced little resistance from a smaller Wildcats roster. Jones runs the floor hard, she is physical in sealing her defenders, and she’s been efficient converting her shot attempts, even extending her range to the free-throw line.
Jones is developing a fun partnership inside with Booker, who fed her center on a lob for two of Jones’ 16 points. It’s not every day that you see a power forward zooming off of a handoff and putting the ball up in the air, but that’s the kind of versatility Booker brings to Texas’ frontcourt. That extra playmaking juice is necessary for a team that currently ranks in the 55th percentile in assist percentage.
Wolfpack frontcourt holds its own
Most of the praise for NC State thus far has been for the guards, namely the dynamic duo of Saniya Rivers and Aziaha James, not to mention super-sub freshman Zoe Brooks. But with Rivers missing the last two contests with a back injury, the forward rotation has had its chance to shine. (Rivers could return Wednesday at Old Dominion for NC State’s next game, according to ESPN.com.) Mimi Collins is spacing the floor as the Wolfpack’s leading 3-point shooter, making 48 percent of her looks from distance.
The real star has been River Baldwin, who is having the best season of her five-year college career. Baldwin is shooting over 59 percent from the field, and the Wolfpack needed every one of her 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting in Tampa against South Florida. Baldwin started the game with seven points in a row before the Bulls made a single bucket. When South Florida tied the score at 22 in the second quarter, Baldwin went into facilitator mode, feeding Brooks for consecutive jumpers to regain the lead. She even had the layup at the end of the third quarter to give NC State its biggest lead of the night at 17. She’s posting career-best marks in points, rebounds and assists per 40 minutes while also shooting her highest percentage from the field and the foul line.
Another double-double for @BaldwinRiver 🤩#GoPack pic.twitter.com/oGc6zv96Nh
— NC State WBB 🐺🏀 (@PackWomensBball) December 17, 2023
Baldwin was behind Camille Hobby and Jakia Brown-Turner in the frontcourt rotation last season, but she has taken full advantage of the increased opportunities after both players transferred. A condensed yet clarified rotation has done wonders for Baldwin and the Wolfpack.
What is Virginia Tech beyond Georgia Amoore and Elizabeth Kitley?
The Hokies’ trip to Rutgers wasn’t their first true road game of the season — that came in the ACC/SEC Challenge against LSU — but this was the first deliberately scheduled by the program. It was also the first road win for a Virginia Tech squad that fancies itself a title contender, thus an important milestone on the road to March.
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As for that question, it’s one Kenny Brooks probably hopes not to have to answer, but the Hokies played significant stretches without one, and sometimes even two, of their stars in New Jersey. The minutes without Amoore were a little terrifying — on the first possession, she sat in the third quarter, Virginia Tech aimlessly threw the ball around the perimeter before the Scarlet Knights forced a steal and scored in transition. Playing without Kitley was a bit smoother. Rose Micheaux, who had seemed uncertain at times about her place in the offense, looked comfortable in the middle of the floor attacking the basket. Olivia Summiel was similarly impactful on the offensive glass, which she combined with lights-out shooting from 3-point range. As a fifth-year senior, Summiel is the type of veteran Brooks is more likely to have faith in during adversity.
The Big Ten confines sparked Matilda Ekh to her best 3-point performance as a member of the Hokies. Ekh came to Virginia Tech as a sharpshooter, having made at least three 3s in 12 games each of the last two seasons, but she only reached that total once since transferring from Michigan State. Against a familiar opponent, Ekh exploded for seven triples, a career-high after making six on four separate occasions.
This was a game the Hokies were supposed to win, but to do so with 51 points outside their big three was a bit of a surprise. The success of these support players will be the biggest determinant of Virginia Tech’s ultimate ceiling.
Undefeated Miami and Baylor were in different tiers
Like the Hokies, the Hurricanes left their home for the first time other than the ACC/SEC Challenge, and even playing the Bears close to their home of Waco was too much for Miami to handle. The fact that Baylor was smaller didn’t seem to matter much, as the Hurricanes were able to drive into the paint, but they were not quite composed once they got there, leading to off-balance shots or charges. They also struggled defensively with basic ball screen coverages, as the players never seemed to know who was covering the ballhandler or rotating to the roller. When Miami turned to a zone defense, the Bears shot right over it, especially the guard duo of Sarah Andrews and Yaya Felder.
That's another top-25 DUB! 🤩#SicEm | #GreaterThan pic.twitter.com/ot9JHWVuPX
— Baylor Women's Basketball (@BaylorWBB) December 16, 2023
The Hurricanes lost five of their top seven rotation players from last season’s Elite Eight team, so some cohesion issues aren’t unreasonable. What this game mostly revealed is that Baylor is playing on a string. The Bears assist on nearly 71 percent of their shots, the fourth-best mark in the country. It’s an enormous challenge to keep up with the pace of their ball movement, especially when it’s combined with off-ball player movement. Baylor is a little undersized but plays strong, especially Jada Walker and Dre’Una Edwards. The Bears still haven’t left the state of Texas, and won’t until Jan. 10 against Kansas, a game that’s circled on our calendar. Until then, in-state clashes against Texas and TCU beckon.
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Creighton vs. Marquette: Among the most fun games of the year
I’ll close out by straying from the theme because the Big East delivered a banger when the Bluejays traveled to take on the undefeated Golden Eagles. Creighton remains fascinating to me because of their 3s and layups shot profile and because the Bluejays start five seniors, each of whom has been in the program for at least three seasons.
And yet, there seems to be a ceiling on what they can accomplish. Due to their lack of size, their interior defense is rough, which Marquette exploited for 34 points in the paint and 20 free-throw attempts. Their bench doesn’t provide a ton of punch, with three players combining for three points in 32 combined minutes against the Golden Eagles. But there are those moments when their collective experience shines in terms of how many good shots they create or how seamlessly they rotate for one another.
Creighton barely lost on the road in large part because Molly Mogensen had a boneheaded turnover when she walked with the ball, and then Emma Ronsiek was called for a 3-second violation when her defender slipped in the paint. I’m not sure I’ve seen two weirder plays, let alone back to back.
Kudos to the Golden Eagles, though, who remind me in a certain sense of the Las Vegas Aces. Defenses can force them into the lowest-percentage shots, but Marquette (and Vegas) keep making them. The Big East leaders are making 47.8 percent of their midrange 2-pointers and 40.3 percent of their above-the-break 3s. Against the Bluejays, they even took only seven 3-pointers but still scored easily because they made 13-of-29 2s away from the basket. These looks were contested and often late in the clock, but they kept going in. The shot-making from Mackenzie Hare, Liza Karlen and Jordan King has been, in a word, ridiculous.
GO DEEPER
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(Photo of Dre’Una Edwards: Ronald Cortes / Getty Images)
