Girls’s basketball rankings: Convention play returns, Maryland’s Sellers makes play of the weekend

NCAA girls’s faculty basketball took a number of days off after week seven, however when it returned this weekend, ranked sides clashed, a shock ACC facet continued its tear and Maryland Terrapin senior Shyanne Sellers made an early candidate for the play of the yr.

AP high 25 girls’s faculty basketball rankings:

1. UCLA
2. South Carolina
3. Notre Dame
4. USC
5. Texas
6. LSU
7. UConn
8. Maryland
9. Oklahoma
10. Ohio State
11. TCU
12. Kansas State
13. Georgia Tech
14. Duke
15. Tennessee
16. Kentucky
17. North Carolina
18. West Virginia
19. Alabama
20. Cal
21. Michigan State
22. NC State
23. Iowa
24. Michigan
25. Ole Miss

Others receiving votes: Vanderbilt 26, Utah 24, Illinois 11, Oklahoma St. 7, Baylor 5, Nebraska 4, Mississippi St. 3, Harvard 3, Portland 1.

Maryland Outlasts Michigan State

Within the first of solely two ranked matchups within the week, the No. 19 Michigan State Spartans traveled to Faculty Park to face the No. 8 Maryland Terrapins.

After an in depth first quarter, the place the 2 Massive Ten sides traded leads, the Terrapins amassed a 17-point second quarter lead. The crowning second of the sport got here throughout an 11-5 run to begin the second interval. Michigan State was in a full court docket press when guard Kaylene Smikle despatched an extended go from the backcourt to get away from the MSU double-teaming protection.

Smikle discovered senior Shyanne Sellers who caught the go and in a single movement despatched a no-look, behind-the-back, go to protect Bri McDaniel, who completed the play with a layup.

“I noticed the woman was going to attempt to run by the go,” stated Sellers. “I went to go meet it and I noticed Bri [McDaniel] out on the nook of my eye and um fortunately she caught it. I knew I wasn’t going to have time to show round, so thanks boo.”

“No downside puka rooks,” stated McDaniel to Sellers.

Maryland might benefit from the second as a result of they got here away with a 72-66 victory, but it surely didn’t come simply. The Terrapins held off the Spartans within the third quarter till their offense went chilly. Maryland didn’t rating for six:16 of sport time, and Michigan State took benefit with an 11-point run that tied the sport with 6:06 remaining.

After beginning the fourth quarter going 0-of-3 from the ground in almost 5 minutes, the Terps regrouped and by no means let the Spartans achieve a lead. Maryland went 5-of-6 within the last 5:06 to drag away to victory.

“Credit score Michigan State,” stated head coach Brenda Frese. “We knew they had been going to play exhausting for 40 minutes and each league sport goes to be like this, it’s going to be each possession issues.”

Michigan State had the steepest fall on this week’s rankings, falling two spots. It’s not a far drop with many groups within the top-25 not enjoying throughout the vacation week.

ACC Play Returns

The Massive Ten wasn’t the one convention beginning their new, expanded, convention play over the weekend. Sunday featured 5 in-conference video games, with all 4 ranked groups pulling away with victories. Probably the most spectacular got here from the No. 13 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, who continued their program greatest begin to the season with a 100-61 rout over the Pitt Panthers.

By the top of the primary quarter, Georgia Tech already had a 13-point lead they usually didn’t relent.

Georgia Tech had a wire-to-wire victory, that includes 4 gamers in double figures, led by a season excessive 28 factors by beginning guard Kara Dunn and a profession excessive 24 factors for freshman guard Dani Carnegie off the bench.

Georgia Tech Girls’s Basketball on Twitter | @GTWBB

“It’s not straightforward scoring 100 factors. Pittsburgh is a extremely bodily protection,” stated stated head coach Nell Fortner. “There was a degree within the third quarter the place we had been rolling fairly easy, and it was enjoyable to observe.”

The triple-digit level whole is the primary 100-point sport for the Yellow Jackets in convention play since 2008, and that was in double extra time. It’s additionally the primary 100-point effort since Nov. 2015, when the Yellow Jackets defeating Southeastern Louisiana 102-49.

Elsewhere within the convention, No. 17 North Carolina and No. 22 NC State had been each in-play with the Tar Heels defeating the Miami Hurricanes and Wolfpack going back-and-forth towards the Clemson Tigers.

NC State and Clemson had 14 lead modifications within the Wolfpack’s 83-79 victory, however the ranked facet took the lead in the beginning of the fourth and didn’t let Clemson get again into the sport. It’s the sixteenth straight victory for NC State over the Tigers.

No. 3 Notre Dame performed the one different ACC sport that includes a top-25 facet, handedly defeating the Virginia Cavaliers 95-54.

Hollywood Stars Return

In Los Angeles, a pair of faculty basketball stars returned to their respective house courts. It began when the No. 1 UCLA Bruins welcomed the Nebraska Cornhuskers to Pauley Pavilion.

Returning was heart Lauren Betts. The Bruins’ main scorer this season missed the final two video games with a leg damage, however returned to stifle the Cornhuskers key huge Alexis Markowski. The 6-foot-2 ahead who entered Sunday averaging 15.0 factors and eight.3 rebounds per sport scored three factors with two rebounds in 16 minutes. Markowski was restricted by fouls and when she was in, had hassle getting by the 6-foot-7 Betts, who led scoring with 21 factors and eight rebounds.

Junior guard Kiki Rice was good offensively within the 91-54 win, scoring 18 factors on 8-of-8 taking pictures. Within the course of, Rice hit her 1,000th profession level, persevering with to cement her UCLA legacy.

Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Pictures

Throughout city, the No. 4 USC Trojans welcomed the No. 23 Michigan Wolverines for the final convention sport of the week. USC freshman Kennedy Smith. who returned earlier than the vacation break towards the UConn Huskies, made her house return towards the Maize and Blue, who had been with out excellent freshman Syla Swords.

Regardless of Swords’ absence, the Wolverines saved the sport shut, primarily by the play of senior Jordan Hobbs. Within the second quarter, Hobbs scored 14 factors with 4-of-6 taking pictures from past the arc. All of the factors got here within the last 6:20 of the quarter, which helped trim the Trojans lead from 10 factors all the way down to a single possession coming into halftime.

Guard JuJu Watkins and ahead Kiki Iriafen scored 28 mixed factors within the second half the place USC outscored Michigan 44-27.

USC’s Smith wasn’t robust offensively, scoring three factors in 32 minutes, however helped maintain Michigan’s main scorer, freshman Olivia Olson, to 11 factors. Smith ended the sport with a +/- of 17, the second highest for a Trojan starter behind Watkins.

The defeat for the Wolverines didn’t influence them an excessive amount of on this week’s rating, falling one spot.

Different Tales of the Week

• Many of the SEC rounded out their non-conference schedules this weekend, with the No. 2 South Carolina Gamecocks, No. 5 Texas Longhorns, No. 6 LSU Tigers, No. 9 Oklahoma Sooners and No. 20 Alabama Crimson Tide all coming away with lopsided house victories.
• No. 7 UConn defeated Windfall 67-41 to win their second Massive East convention sport of the season. It’s the Huskies’ thirty seventh straight win towards the in-conference facet. UConn hasn’t misplaced to Windfall since 1993.
• A battle of freshmen Kiyomi McMiller of Rutgers and Jaloni Cambridge of Ohio State ended up being a battle within the paint between seniors Future Adams and Ajae Petty. Each forwards got here away with double-doubles, however Petty and the No. 10 Buckeyes defeated the unranked Scarlet Knights 77-63.