← No Offseason: The Athletic Women's Basketball Show
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- [00:01]
Gina Keda
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- [01:18]
Unknown
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- [02:52]
Chantel Jennings
Love.
- [02:52]
Sabrina Merchant
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- [04:57]
Chantel Jennings
For the athletic I'm Zena Keda and this is the Athletic Women's Basketball Show. Welcome back to the Athletic Women's Basketball show where we are here to talk all things women's hoops. As always, whether you're a die hard fan that's looking to find out a little bit more and you eat, sleep and breathe the game, or you're just a casual fan that needs a safe space to learn. Don't worry, we got you. Make sure to subscribe to this pod, wherever you get your pods, and subscribe to the Athletic. There's so much good written content up there. You definitely want to check it out. Now, today I got Chantelle Jennings, I got Sabrina Merchant. We're talking NCAA women's hoops, and they've got some surprises from this season that they want to walk through and talk through. And I'm always, always down to learn from you guys. So let's dive right on in as to what we're going to be talking about today or what we like to talk about as our scout. So we're going to talk a little bit about tcu. You guys remember them? The Horned Frogs, Still a very interesting mascot for me, but we got to talk about the fact that they're doing a little bit better than some people might have anticipated, as well as some teams in the Big Ten that have made a splash so far this season. And then let's talk about some of these transfers, particularly one that I'll admit I did overlook. And I've been quickly reminded that this person is very important to her new team. Last but not least, we'll see if there's some other topics around the league in terms of surprises for everyone. So let's start with tcu. And I love how Chantel put this. We get a rundown guys every single time we do our shows. And someone, I don't know if it was Chantel or Sabrina, but someone said, hello, Olds, and I love it.
- [06:59]
Unknown
That was me.
- [07:00]
Chantel Jennings
It's real. It's real. Let's talk about TCU. They're currently 40 on the season. They just got ranked 19th in the AP poll. That is the first time in 14 years that TCU is in the top 20 of the associated Press poll. They I'll say this, the other game that they've won in that four, no, not that big of deal. But there's one particular game that took the cake, and that was their recent win over NC State, who was ranked number 13. They won that game 76 to 73. And the two people really anchoring them in all of these wins, but particularly in that one, the Olds, Haley Van Lif and Sedona Prince. Sedona Prince, 31 points, most points scored by any player right now against the top 25 team this season. And then Haley Van Lith, 18 and 10, her first double double with Points and assists. She's done it in other ways, but her first double double, points and assists. Chantelle. It looks like there's still some good blood running through these old heads that are on the TCU horn frogs. Like, what impresses you the most about the way that they've been able to kind of anchor this team to start the season?
- [08:14]
Unknown
Well, I think, like, this team sort of speaks to the modern era of women's college basketball. Like, I think we're gonna see a lot of different ways to win, but I think we're gonna see also sort of this might be the way to grow and build a program in this modern era. Like, I don't know how much we're gonna see sort of freshman classes funnel through where, you know, four freshmen come in and they leave as four seniors in the same class. Like, it might be more of this plug and play for a year or two with grad transfers. And I remember seeing Mark Campbell the summer he got the TCU job at the EYBL Nationals in Chicago. And he just kept telling me, like, it's going to be a science experiment. It's going to be a science experiment. And I was like, yeah, I mean, it's happening in labs across the country. Cool, we'll see what happens. And then we never really got to see it play out last year because they had so many injuries and then obviously had the tryouts for players on campus. And so I think I just sort of like the verdict was out. There was no definitive answer about what this experiment was specifically at TCU last season. This year, they come in their healthier Mark goes back into the portal, gets more players. Maddie Shearer, Haley Van Lith. Like, he's putting all of these pieces together. Multiple multi transfers, which I think is really interesting. They have five, five, two time transfers. Like, this is the only time in women's college basketball where we're going to see something like that. And it was just like, like you said early games, if you're beating teams that don't, don't really rank in the top 200 of Division 1 teams by 30. I'm not impressed. Unless you're LSU and you know, then you can stay in the top 10. But like TCU, I didn't really pay as much attention to them until this NC State game. I know Sabrina had them in her top 25 before they beat NC State, so we're going to give her that credit. But I really, you know, for me, the experiment was still like, we'll see, like, when they finally play solid Competition, what can they do? And then obviously they come out against NC State and they win.
- [10:07]
Chantel Jennings
Right.
- [10:07]
Unknown
And I think what's most, you know, there's a lot that makes sense, but I think it's just like they're old. Like, we talk so much about, like, the value of experience and age in this game, and I think TCU is a testament to that. It's a testament to players kind of finding the places that they want to be at finally and winding college careers. And just sort of the urgency, I think, that you can see for players that know this is sort of the last time they're going to get to do this and what that means for what they're leaving on the floor.
- [10:37]
Chantel Jennings
There's a lot to be said about Campbell being able to get five two time transfers to come to play for tcu. Like, there's something about the space that he's creating and the vision that he's envisioned, like putting forward for TCU, because when he first got TCU, they were 1 and 17 the previous season, like the bottom of their conference. And he's really turned things around. One thing that I noticed about this team is that they're leading the country in assists. They've got 99 total assists. They're averaging just under 25 assists per game. Like, what is Mark Campbell injecting into this team, Sabrina, that is particularly allowing them to like, move the ball well, but like, take advantage of these older talents and allowing them to fit together as well as they are. Yeah.
- [11:25]
Unknown
So just to really hammer the point home about how old they are, this is the oldest roster in Division 1. It's not just that they're kind of old. They are quite literally the oldest roster in Division 1. So when we, you know, compare them against everyone else, let's, let's give them that their average age is o over 21 years old. So, like, these are all you think about college kids and the way we tend to describe them, like, oh, 18 year olds are going to make these mistakes, not at tcu. Like, these are all legal adults, you know, that should not.
- [11:53]
They can rent cars. They can rent cars.
- [11:56]
Yeah. Sedona friends probably can rent a car. So that's, that's just the first thing. There's. We talk about age, but there's a different amount of age when you're referring to the TCU Horned Frogs. But just in terms of what they've been doing, you know, offensively, I think a lot of us saw Haley Van Lith in the point guard role at LSU last season and Sort of came to the conclusion like, you know, she's probably just better off the ball. This point guard thing isn't working for her. She needs to go to a place where there's another ball handler so she can be a secondary creator, you know, not be tasked with running the offense on every single possession. And that was one of the smart things I think, that Mark Hamill did right away was he brings in Donovan Hunter from Oregon State, who's just really solid freshman point guard for that team that went to the Elite Eight. And that means that there's some ball handling distribution with her and Haley Van Lith, so it's not overtaxing one or the other. And then the second thing is, at lsu, they weren't really a good pick and roll offense like Angel Reese. Not really much of a screen setter and roller. Anissa Morrow, that's not her bread and butter. They didn't really have a traditional center with the Tigers last year after Samia Smith got hurt. So Haley Van Lith is a pick and roll point guard. Like you saw that when she played 3x3 at the Olympics this year. Like that's what she does. She gets a ball screen, she works. And now she has Sedona Prince, which is the best possible screening partner she could have because you cannot switch that, right? You have Haley van life, who's 5 foot 7, and you have Sedona Prince who is 6 foot 7. There's no set of defenders who can possibly switch this action. So you're getting Haley Van Lith in these openings where she can cook in isolation or she just, you know, dumps the pass into Sedona. And I think that's what's creating a lot of the assists. Like you mentioned, the points assist double double that Haley Van Lith had against NC State. That, you know, two man game is really fruitful in terms of creating assists. And then their shooting is just really good. So a lot of kicking and swinging. Like Madison Conner is averaging a high number of assists because she keeps getting closed out too really hard on the three point line. So she just moves the ball and that's another assist. So I think the way their offense is structured with that pick and roll, heavy attack, but then also a lot of shooting around it in terms of Donovan Hunter and Madison Connor. And now when Matty Shear comes back, that just naturally lends itself to a lot of good ball movement. So I like what they've created. You know, I mean, as Chantel mentioned, I did have them ranked preseason. I just thought there was A lot of good talent on this team, right? A lot of familiar talents. You mentioned the double transfers. Some of them just came back to Mark Campbell. Actually, three of them are originally from Oregon. Maddie Shear, Taylor Bigby, and Sedona Prince all started their careers or played some of their careers at Oregon before ending up at tcu, which is where Mark Campbell was originally an assistant. So it might seem like it's all new, but, you know, Taylor Bigby and, like, mad Maddie Shear, Sedona, all were at Oregon at the same time at some point. So it's not entirely, you know, putting these random pieces together. And I think you're sensing some of they're old. I should stop saying that. I'm much older than them. They're old. They're comfortable with each other. And, you know, you can see that familiarity manifesting itself.
- [14:48]
Chantel Jennings
Their experience. That's what we're experienced. Their experience.
- [14:52]
Unknown
Speaking as geriatric millennials, I think we can call them olds. But I think, Sabrina, you make an interesting point about Mark sort of bringing back these players from his Oregon days. But I think even, you know, I'm always thinking about, like, okay, what does it mean right now, but what does it also mean for the future? And we talk about, you know, he's had success with sort of putting a team together this way. Instantly, my head is like, is he going to still be doing this three years from now? Like, what is his game plan? But I think what's interesting about this group is that you look, it's not just those three players from Oregon. Donovan Hunter is from Oregon State. Haley Van Lith was at, you know, out of the state of Washington, Maddie or Madison. Connor is from Arizona. And so these are all players that he would have recruited or come across when he was, you know, he was an assistant at Oregon State and Oregon from 2010 to 2021. Then he's the head coach at Sac State. And so, like, all of these west coast ties that he had an opportunity to form relationships with, the transfer portal window is just so small that you kind of have to, like, really make a good first impression. But with so many of these players, like, he's already made that first impression for some of them, like, five years ago. And so I think it's just interesting, you know, sort of looking down the road, what that will mean for him, recruiting to TCU when he's recruiting, you know, sort of the TCU footprint and doesn't have those relationships as much.
- [16:06]
And then you mentioned all those players. I just wanted to add Agnes Amenopou also started her Stanford. So yet another west coast person that has come through. Yeah.
- [16:14]
So I think what is that? Seven. Seven players from.
- [16:17]
That's a big chunk of the roster.
- [16:19]
That's a big part of the roster.
- [16:20]
Chantel Jennings
Hey, I have no problems with people using the Rolodex. Okay. To be able to get their team stacked up and get some some wins. You want to talk about people being old, I just use the word Rolodex. So here we go. Now this is the first game that TCU is playing in non conference against a top 25 team. They've got two more. The next one will be against Notre Dame on November 29th. Now all I kept thinking about when Sabrina you said you can't switch that thinking about Haley Van Lif, thinking about Sedona Prince, I was like if you had two Sinai Rivers maybe, but even then it wasn't, you know, Trigger North Carolina State center looked small against Sedona Prince. And I'm just trying to think from a Notre Dame perspective thoughts on what that matchup could look like in terms of handling that that pick and roll.
- [17:13]
Unknown
Well, I think you start with Hannah Hidalgo on Haley Van Lith and you have Kate Koval on Sedona Prince and again you can't switch that. But I trust Hannah Hidalgo probably better than any guard in the country to get through screens. So that'll be interesting to look at. And you just mentioning like the NC State big looking small against Sedona. That's something that I think Kate is 6 foot 5 as a Notre Dame center so there's a little bit more heft to work with there. But then again she still is an 18 year old freshman dealing with grown woman strength from Sedona Prince. So it's an advantage that I think TC will be able to tap into regularly just because of how experienced Sedona is in college basketball and the fact that she just knows the game better than a lot of the younger players she's going to be going up against. But in terms of picking out other than two Sinai Rivers, I like this combination about as well as any in terms of defending that two player game for sure.
- [18:04]
Chantel Jennings
I mean first thought that came to mind is absolutely Hannah Hidalgo just making things so much more difficult. West Moore, NC State's head coach said that their on ball defense was the problem in that loss against NC State. And when you think about the last bucket that was made, Taylor Bigby going one on one off the wing, just swooping over and getting a wide open layup to close it out I mean, yeah, definitely going to be a nice advantage for Notre Dame knowing what they can do in terms of on ball defense. Okay, well, let's switch it up a little bit because this was interesting in terms of teams that have surprised us. So TCU is like the team of experience. There's one team that is literally on the opposite end that has been playing as if they have the experience, but they don't. It's a team full of freshmen. That's Michigan in the Big Ten. Now, similar to tcu, they've won against some teams that aren't particularly special. But the game that is actually really impressive was a game that they lost the opening night game against South Carolina in which they lost 62 to 68. Now, I don't know if y'all remember that game, but the number one thing that stood out to me, freshman Sila Swartz, who was playing out of her mind. But it's really been this entire starting lineup. Silas for Jordan Hobbs, Olivia Olsen, Miller, Holloway, Greater Comp. Schroeder. Like, they are playing like, oh, we forget that we weren't ranked. We forget that people weren't expecting a lot out of us, but again, we haven't had, outside of that South Carolina game, we haven't had a lot of competition. What stands out to you, Chantel, in terms of a team that is playing a lot better than you thought they would?
- [19:47]
Unknown
Yeah, I mean, I think just realistically I looked at this Michigan team as like, this is a rebuilding year. Like, Layla Philia is gone. Lauren Hansen is gone. So you sort of have this, you know, the two. Two of the main parts of that team last year, and specifically Layla Philia, where it was like, this is her team this year. When you were thinking about Michigan 20, 24 to 25, like, it was Layla's team as it has been, you know, recently. And then she's gone and there's this void and then you're like, is Kim Barn Sirico really going to start three freshmen with Jordan Hobbs? Like, is this really going to happen? And so we ha. We saw that performance against South Carolina where they came out and it was just like, fearless. Like, number one team in the country. How many games have you won in a row? Oh, whatever. Let's play. Like, it was just incredible, right? Silas Swords was like, that's cool. I was in the Olympics this summer. But, like, you know, I think you had that and that was impressive. But I think sort of the flip side of that, where you were saying, you know, the last three games, like, eh, not huge wins, but I think with freshmen, specifically after a game like that, where you take the number one team in the country toe to toe, there is the opportunity for a letdown, especially if you're sort of like, oh, we've got new money. Like, we're actually pretty good. People are talking about us, paying attention to us. When you have, again, traditional freshmen, there's an idea that maybe there's going to be sort of a trap game in there that they would drop one to, like an Oakland. But nope, they're just, like, rolling through these opponents that they're better than by 30, which is what you expect good teams to do. Like, good and great teams. They take the elite teams to the wire and then they beat everyone else by 30 that they're supposed to be by 30. When you have a team where it's like 60% are freshmen, it's like the opposite of TCU where it's like, yeah, no, no experience. What is urgency? Like, they can't rent a car. Like, did they. Could they vote in the election this year? Obviously, Sila couldn't because she's a Canadian, but, like, you know, like all of these young, young kids. And it's the opposite where you sort of think, like, there might be that opportunity for let down and they just haven't had it. Like, they've acted like they are juniors and seniors. And I think for me, looking at the Big Ten this year, thinking about how the conference would sort of change with the four teams coming in, like, Michigan was a team that I thought would lose ground because you look at the teams that are coming in and it's like, I'm slotting those teams ahead and maybe there's other teams, like in Illinois that might pop up ahead of them. And now I'm like, I don't know, like, Michigan is really trying to fight to be in the top third of the Big Ten. And it's really impressive because they're doing it with such a young core. And Jordan Hobbs, obviously very experienced, but. But, you know, a lot of young players.
- [22:25]
Chantel Jennings
Yeah. Both teams looking at Michigan and the other team we're going to talk about in a second, just on a streak. And I think what you mentioned about for freshmen to go on a streak like that you win the games that you must win. Right. The games that you're expected to win. Being able to take care of business as freshmen is big. And being able to find success in what I love. I think what a lot of people thought this was going to be for Michigan in a rebuilding Year can be a big booster, but it can also be kind of like, ooh, this is kind of worrisome in the sense that could they get too inflated too early? Sabrina, when you think about them starting out hot very early without having played a lot of big competition, do you get concerned at all in terms of how the rest of this, this year can go for these Michigan freshmen and just this young core?
- [23:19]
Unknown
Not at all. Because it doesn't matter who they're playing now. The. The Cavalry, it's. There's Oklahoma and the Ace. The Big Ten SEC challenge they get next month. I believe they open Big Ten play against usc, so, you know, have fun with that.
- [23:33]
Chantel Jennings
Yeah.
- [23:34]
Unknown
And it just. This conference is so fricking deep, like Chantel was talking about. It's 18 teams, right? So I think. I think seven or eight of them are ranked. And we're not even including, like, Iowa, who's pretty decent, you know, with Lucy Olsen and the Caitlin Clark role and just, you know, Nebraska and Ohio State and Maryland and like, everybody is going to give you a tough time night in and night out, so there's really no time for them to, like, settle into what this could be like. The schedule picks up immediately, and if they're not ready for it, like, it's gonna. It's gonna kick them in the butt.
- [24:03]
Chantel Jennings
Absolutely. I'm actually looking at the Big Ten standings right now, and you obviously, you listed some of the teams that are obviously ranked and doing it. They doing their thing. But the Big Ten, y'all, is rolling. There are 1, 2, 3, 4 teams right now that have won their last five games undefeated. Okay? And then there's 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 6, 7 teams, that's not including the four I just mentioned that have won their last four games, and they're also undefeated. So Big Ten is stacked with talent, stacked with. With energy, and just like they're rolling right now. I think they want to show the rest of the country that they're the conference to compete. But let's move over to the other team that we're talking about within the Big Ten. That's surprising a lot of us. And I'll say that Oregon Baylor game was so much fun to watch. Put aside the fact that Deja Kelly transfers over from UNC, comes in, drops 20 in her first game, and then does the sideline report for the game following that. Like, I don't know who does that, folks? I have sideline report. It's not an easy thing to do. She was like, you know what? Let me just get out this shower real quick, put some makeup on real quick, and be able to talk about the game right after me. Unbelievable. But overall, Oregon has just been playing with such ease, with such confidence. And I think this is also a team that when you think of some of the drain that they had last year, you also may have thought that they could have been in a rebuild. Chantelle. But they've been looking good.
- [25:33]
Unknown
Yeah, I mean, I think this is one of those programs where, you know, like, they needed to get healthy, obviously. I think, like, TCU sort of the injury bug hit them last year. But the Deja Kelly transfer, to me was always really intriguing because you look at Kelly Graves, track record of guards he's worked with at Gonzaga and Oregon, Sabrina Ionescu, Courtney Vandersloot, you know, pretty darn good on ball, off ball, guards, and you look at Deja Kelly and you're like, well, let's see. Let's see how this goes. Like, there are a lot of interesting transfers that you look at, and you're like, why did that player end up there? But I think with Deja, it was like, you know, look at who this coach has helped produce and what she wants to do with her career. And so I think it's been really interesting. What's going to be fascinating when the Big Ten season really kicks off is sort of all of these west coast teams coming east. We're going to end up talking a lot more about, like, body clocks and red eye flights, like Normatec pants, like on flights, and all of this sort of stuff like that teams are doing. And I'm really curious to see how recovery and prehab and rehab look for these teams. But so far, again, Oregon is a team that has surprised me because, you know, it wasn't like tcu, where I was like, there's a lot of talent there, but I was like, I don't know. It's just like it's all of these different pieces, and he hasn't proven it yet. Kelly Graves is a coach who has proven it. Like, last year was the first year they didn't make the postseason since his first year at Oregon. But it was just one of those things. Like, this is they were two in the PAC 12. They were two and 16. So it was just like, that's. That's a long stairwell to getting back to, like, relevancy in a conference, especially one as good as the Big Ten. And so I think I just sort of wasn't sure what to think. And then they come out and beat Baylor, and it's like, well, damn, they're here. The car is back in motion.
- [27:13]
Chantel Jennings
You know, I'm happy you mentioned how because we talk about what Campbell did at TCU and being able to get these transfers to come in, some of them within his realm of basketball from previous years. And this is like a different version of that where your reputation speaks for yourself in terms of what Kelly Graves has been able to do and creating a destination based on what you could potentially do for my career. But you know, Deja Kelly is not the only person on this roster. We don't want to just only hone in on her. But Sabrina, I'm curious. As you look at Oregon again, not yet in the top third or the top, even first and second of tiers of the Big Ten just yet, but they want to move that way and be able to be contenders within the Big Ten. Who else around Daija Kelly will be able to help that team elevate to that position, you think?
- [28:08]
Unknown
Yeah, I think Peyton Scott is healthy this year after last season. Just a little bit more guard depth. I think she only played a couple of games last year. But you can tell somebody who understands Kelly Graves system and just we talk about familiarity over and over again. That's somebody who knows how to play with the ball in her hands and just a good solid guard, whether she's playing backup to Kelly or next to her in that backcourt. I think Amina Muhammad is a nice transfer from Texas. You know, good athletic wing. They lost Chance Gray and Grace Van Slooten in the portal this past season. So somebody to help fill in those minutes is really important. And Amina Muhammad has played in like big games in the Big 12. So it's not like this is a jump up to a Power 4 conference. Like she's comfortable with this level of play and to, you know, have one of the first games be up against Baylor, a team that she's obviously quite familiar with, is a nice way to integrate yourself into the team. And then Filipina Che, you know, they're, they're tall, 6 foot 5 center, 6 foot 8 center. I'm sorry, that was grossly underestimating her. Just a big girl in the middle, somebody who can help protect the rim, you know, make up for any breakdowns at the point of attack defense like we were talking about earlier and you know, just make things imposing. I think that's just an excellent piece to have to complement all of those backcourt players that they have. So, you know, like Chantel was saying, they were, they were pretty beaten by the injury bug last year they didn't have the team that they were gonna, they thought they were gonna have. And with those two big players leaving, I just, I didn't really see how it could work. But it's, it's just so like perfectly pack 12 that they play this game 10:00pm Eastern time on the first week of the season that nobody can really watch because everybody's asleep. And like AP poll voters wake up on Monday morning and they're like, wait, should we do something with Oregon? So it's, it's just a wonderful west coast situation that obviously they're not part of the PAC 12 anymore.
- [29:54]
But I, Sabrina just reenacted my, my week one AP vote where I was so tired and I was like, I can't. And I was like, baylor, Oregon, I can't stay up for this. And then I woke up, I was like, shit. But looking at everyone else's, I was like, a lot of people made the same decision.
- [30:12]
Chantel Jennings
That's okay. As a person that was on the west coast, I did not have that issue. But I'm actually sad you didn't say. Now I would say one of my favorite names to say. I think her name is so beautiful. Nonni Falatea. She has been a great shooter for them. Coming off the bench, I was like very impressed with her play against Baylor. Did not know her while she was at byu. She is now on my radar and mostly because I just love saying her name. Now let's keep it moving to our next big surprise or maybe we should say thing that we forgot to mention. Liatu King, playing for Notre Dame now, she most recently went into concussion protocol, so not sure if she's going to play against USC this coming weekend when Notre Dame plays against them. But right now averaging 18 points, just under 18 points, just under 10 rebounds a game. This is a crazy stat. 73.5 from the field, folks. Like she has been efficient for Notre Dame and in that first game that they played, yes, they routed their competition by over 50 points. It was something crazy. I can't remember the score right now but Liatu King was just so even keeled, steady headed, just like such a solid more senior. We're using all the different words to say old today, but you could just tell that she's been around the game and she had been a really big player for Pitt and now you know, we're wondering is she the most important transfer that we did not think about? Yeah, I would say probably yes. Chantel, what are you thinking?
- [31:53]
Unknown
Yeah, I think you look At a player like Liatu King, where it's like she came from pit again. This is a team that went 2 and 16 and conference play a year ago. Pitt is a notoriously difficult place to win in college basketball. So like, that's not a knock on like any particular thing, but it's like, here is a senior coming out of program that really hasn't won. So like, you have that experience factor, but not as much of an experience factor when it comes to winning. You're going to one of the most storied women's college basketball programs in the country. I think when Neil picked her up, it was one of those where I was like, interesting. Okay, like, what does she see that maybe we haven't seen? And I think, you know, you, you touched on it, her incredible field goal percentage, but at the rim she's actually shooting 87%, which is really, really impressive. And so. But like, what makes Notre Dame really special right now is that they have playmakers at every position. But I think specifically what probably terrifies opposing coaches is like, they have so many players that can attack the rim in different ways. Like, if it's not Hannah Hidalgo, if it's not Olivia Miles, it's a liar to King. Like, and then you have three point shooters outside of that that will sort of like just get it going from range. And like, I think the balance that they have offensively is just really great. And then she's sort of like a very sturdy six foot forward that can, you know, guard a four guard on the wing. Like, she's just like a great piece for them all around. But I think what she does in terms of their offensive attack and balancing just the inside outside game and how they attack the rim and how, you know, I was at Notre Dame last week and spent a lot of time talking to Neil about, you know, what it does for their offense when they have both Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles as like two true, you know, point guards on the floor. Olivia actually called them alpha point guards. Like, to have two alpha guards on the floor and then you add Liatu into it where it's like you have people that have great court vision, can attack the rim, can get through and like slice through defenses, like, they're just so dangerous. And so it's one of those things where it's like, you watch Notre Dame now and you're like, well, duh, like, of course this is a really great fit. And again, like, let's, you know, hold off the coronation quite yet because their schedule hasn't sort of Been crazy good. But they play USC this weekend and so I think we'll learn a lot more about them and sort of what this team can do by Sunday.
- [34:06]
Chantel Jennings
Right. And of course, as we mentioned in their last outing against James Madison, Liatu King hurt her head in the fourth quarter and walked off. And so she might still be in concussion protocol. This is gonna be a question for you, Sabrina, because I love, I feel like you got, I mean, you've got a great eye for player comparisons. Is it weird that when I watch Lia Tu King, if I close my eyes and squit, I see Reagan Richardson from Duke. Like I. The length, the attacking, the basket, the rebounding, I don't know why, but I feel like their games are very similar. Is that a crazy comparison?
- [34:43]
Unknown
I mean, there's definitely that same attacking mentality. Yeah, I haven't really considered their builds all that much, but yeah, you know.
- [34:49]
Chantel Jennings
That'S why you got to squint. Got to squint a little bit. But I just feel like the same way that, you know, Reagan Richardson runs the floor, she could pick up full court. Like, these are the qualities that Lia Tu King also has in the games that I've watched. And they're lean too, so they're super long and you've got to watch your passes around them. I don't know, the two of them, I really like both of their games. Something about six foot guards maybe. It's just like me wishing I could have been them because they are just tall and long and I really just like her game from that perspective. Chantel, you got another comparison?
- [35:26]
Unknown
Oh, no, I just put in the. This is like some inside podcasting for everyone. I just put in our private chat that I was checking out CB analytics, which is a resource we use a lot, checking out Liatu's comps there and like Michaela Timpson is there and. But Anisa Morrow as well as one of the top three comps for her.
- [35:44]
Chantel Jennings
I would have thought Anisa Mora was a little bit thicker and like stronger than Liatu King, but it's a statistical.
- [35:50]
Unknown
Comparison, so it's like not taking as much of that into account. And it's not even take. It's only twos versus three. So not as much of like the mid range game as. As we've seen from other players. But yeah, there's a comp from cbb.
- [36:02]
Chantel Jennings
There we go. I told y'all when we talked to Chantelle and Sabrina. We gonna be learning, folks. We gonna learn something. Okay, let's keep it moving. Surprise.
- [36:13]
Unknown
Potentially, I Was just gonna say that as we were discussing transfers who we may not have talked about enough heading into the season. Gotta mention to Mia Gardner, who I think was not the Oregon.
- [36:25]
I was gonna say her too.
- [36:26]
Yeah, like Oregon State admittedly lost its entire team essentially in the transfer portal because of the demise of the PAC 12. We've talked a lot about Reagan Beers. Has she's shaken up Oklahoma Just mentioned Donovan Hunter earlier on the podcast. I think Delia Von Olhoffen gets a lot of love because truly wonderful social media presence, the new USC point guard. But in terms of transfers who I think are going to make the most impact in affecting national title Final Four race cannot overstate what Tamia Gardner has done at ucla. She didn't even start their first game when she, you know, started the season for the Bruins. And then yesterday against, against a good Arkansas team, five threes in the first quarter, just completely obliterating Arkansas before the game even gets started. I know our trio has a lot of love for the Arkansas style of basketball. As I'm watching the game in my head, it's just running like, save it for Arkansas. Little callback for those of you who listening to the show for a week or a year, I should say. But yeah, to me, Gardner, a three point shooting just front court player who can defend like two through five kind of. I mean, UCLA is running out these jumbo lineups with like Gardner, Barker, Dougalich and Lauren Betts. She can do just everything that you'd want to space outside of Lauren Betts. And I think just in terms of the transfers that I've been watching, I know that she doesn't fundamentally change UCLA's style of play, but she amplifies what they're able to do in a really, really important way.
- [37:48]
Chantel Jennings
She can take the ball up the court if you need it. If there's too much pressure on their point guard, she is a forward, but she absolutely gives guard skills and definitely can pop out to the wing, can pop out to the corner, can stretch the floor. Like I always forget that Tamia Gardner. Well, unless until I see her out there with like Lauren Betts, I'm like, oh yeah, she's six three. Like she's solidly a six three forward. Like not. I think even at osu I might have been like, o, maybe she's six foot. No, she is a six three forward with guard skills. And it's, it, it makes me think of like Alyssa Peely. She doesn't quite have the footwork that Alyssa Pele had, but in terms of strength. And it's like I if Alyssa Peely had been Tamia Gardner's height, similar player, can stretch the floor, can take the ball up the court. You can trust Tamia Gardner to be patient, which is huge for ucla especially, you know, with Kiki Rice having been gone for their first game and, you know, trying to get back onto the court like that. What she brings from a patience. Here we go. Experience level is great. Like, she is a wonderful. That's a really good point. I don't know if I have one that beats those two. Liatich King, you know, definitely, I think was my number one. But Sabrina, you definitely put Tamiya Gardner in there for me as well. Okay, let's get moving to the east coast because we've given a lot of love to the west coast just now. Let's go to the east coast and of course, I don't know if we're going to be giving love, but we're going to have some questions. South Carolina now, South Carolina, still dominant team, still winning games, still undefeated at home. They're doing their thing. Are they as dominant, though, and capable of going undefeated in this season as they looked last year? Chantel, what are you noticing?
- [39:49]
Unknown
We've kind of framed the show around like, surprises. And so I think the surprise for me with South Carolina is that they, you know, you don't expect any team to sort of be complete from the start, but this is a team that returns like 80% of its production. Obviously, we've talked at, you know, ad nauseam about the one piece that they lost Camila Cardoso to the wnba a pretty significant piece. The piece that kind of made so much of what they do work last season. And so I don't know if this was just me assuming, like, you know, Don Staley has this system where, like, all the players coming behind are like, ready to step into that role. And, and it's just not happened quite as quickly as I thought it would. And, and specifically, I think we're seeing it in the first quarters. Like, they're just not jumping out in the way that I thought we would see the South Carolina Gamecocks do that. And I wrote about this in the power rankings this week. Like, part of it is sort of the, the movement within personnel. Like, there's been at least one key player missing every game for them. But again, like, that's going to happen throughout the season. You have to adjust and move forward. But I think it was like they were down 16, 13 to Coppin State and I was like, wait, What?
- [41:03]
Chantel Jennings
They're looking human. They're looking human this year. More so.
- [41:06]
Unknown
Right. And I think it was just like, you know, they come into the season on a 38 game win streak and it's sort of like, wow, here's like they're just gonna like, run the table. Like, this is South Carolina. They return so much. And I think just there have been pieces of them. You know, their three point shooting hasn't been quite as strong. Like, their starts haven't been quite as strong. That, you know, it's a long season. They've got, you know, 30 plus more games to play that, you know, a week, two weeks, three weeks from now, like, this might be a very distant memory, but I think to start the first three games of the season with slow first quarters was just sort of like, oh, okay. Like they look a little more human. And I think I and a lot of other people that pay attention to this sport just weren't expecting them to look human because so much returned and there's so much talent on that roster and there's so much continuity. Like, we spent a lot of time talking about teams that, that have moving pieces and moving parts, but there's just been so much continuity for South Carolina that I expected it to be a lot of what we saw last season. But again, like, the piece of the continuity that's not there is a pretty important piece. And we should note that against East Carolina, like, they took them to task in the first quarter, I think it was 20 to 5, like, held them to 20% shooting, scored like 16 points off a bunch of turnovers, like, looked like the South Carolina that I thought we would see from the jump. But I think it just took a little bit longer to get there. And so, you know, I would say, you know, on a scale of like 1 to 10 for surprises, like a 5, a medium surprise.
- [42:33]
Chantel Jennings
Yeah, for sure. I mean, the first thing you mentioned about being able to rotate players in, it makes sense because for the last four years, you think about the, you know, that particularly unreal freshman class, there had always been the continuity of them, but whoever was coming in line after them knew their role. Like there wasn't. Like Camila Cardoso, people didn't even really know about Camilla because Aaliyah Boston was the focal point for so long. But as soon as she came into her role, she didn't skip a beat. Like, she. She was right there and ready to go. I would say Chloe Kitts is also coming back. She had that one game. She had a sit because of academic protocol. But she's also, she's been there, but it's not been as smooth as a team rather than like the individual roles. And that is one of the things that's been interesting. The last year. The two games that made me realize, like, ooh, South Carolina could be beatable were the games in North Carolina, the ones against Duke and the ones against North Carolina. That didn't come until like December, right? Like, or later, like later on in the non conference. It wasn't until then that you're like, okay. Hmm. But still, their ability to rally is their marker, right? That's their signature thing. Sabrina, if you're another team looking at South Carolina this season and you're like, okay, we know Don Staley has a hell of a halftime speech, but if we can get them into a deep enough hole in the first half, maybe that, you know, that second half or that halftime speech won't do anything. If we could just beat them in the first half, like what would be. If you're a coach, what's your approach to trying to get South Carolina to relinquish a win?
- [44:18]
Unknown
I kind of think you just got to zone them. You know, their three point shooting hasn't been as good this season. I think it's 31% for the season, which is not nearly what we were talking about last year when Tahina Powpow was the leading three point shooter in the country. When she was Johnson off the bench. Right, exactly. And Raven Johnson hasn't really found her shot this year. Malaysia is just a little bit inconsistent. So I think just, just force them to beat you from long distance. Because the way I see it, if South Carolina is making threes, you're not going to win no matter what kind of defense you're playing. So I think if you just junk it up, really pack the paint, make it difficult for Chloe kids to get going because I think she's been their most efficient scorer thus far. You know, don't let Fagan and Watkins and Joyce Edwards do their thing. You know, keep them off the glass, that's really the most important thing. That's the problem with the zone is that you just hemorrhage these offensive rebounds. But yeah, crowding the paint, making sure that they just don't even get two feet in the paint on possessions is really the most important thing. And then you just sort of live and let live with the three point jumpers. Right. Like if they're going to make them, they're going to make them, but you have to take something away and I think that is South Carolina's bread and butter. Like even their three point shots are created by them getting into the paint and then moving the ball out. So walling off the paint, maybe playing, you know, more zone than you would expect in against such a good rebounding team. I think that's what I would try to do. And I think that's what Michigan did really effectively in that opening day game. It just. They were so small and couldn't rebound anything.
- [45:37]
Chantel Jennings
Yeah, that, that usually is the problem against South Carolina is that they just overwhelm people with their size. That's been. I mean, I talk about their signature being the second half rallies if they're down, but their other signature has been just having bigs, just having really big and skilled bigs as well.
- [45:55]
Unknown
Well, and I will say that, like, you know, I think if you talk to most coaches, and I think Dawn Staley would also feel this way, like you want your team to experience some kind of adversity at some point in the season. Like you want them to have to prove themselves in a way while it matters, not just in practice, not in the preseason, not in a scrimmage, like when like a win or a loss is on the line. And so I think having this time now, you know, becomes teaching moments, right? And it becomes teaching moments where they've been able to recover. Like said, she's known for her halftime speeches. They've gotten it back together. It's been rough for eight minutes, which, let's also put this in perspective that we're talking about a team where we're like, oh man, they haven't looked perfect for eight minutes. This is all, it's all just a part of the puzzle. But I think you want your team because again, this is a team that hasn't lost. There isn't a player on this team that was playing significant minutes the last time they lost. And so they don't know what it's like as much to be in those, in those moments where, you know, they did have games, close games last year, you know, you pointed out the UNC Duke games. I'm thinking of the Oregon State game. Like they had close games where they kind of had to dig deep. But I think having it again this season as a reminder of like, you know, you might be on a 40 plus game win streak, but like everyone is coming for you. The target is on your back. Like you can't, you know, sleep with one eye open, basically. And so they've got to just start faster and that, that's where It'll get interesting going into SEC play because, you know, against elite SEC opponents, like, eight minutes can be significantly more impactful.
- [47:24]
Chantel Jennings
Absolutely. But that's the thing. That's why it's hard for me to ever bet against South Carolina, because every time they've had adversity, they have been able to rally.
- [47:34]
Unknown
I mean, it's just been so long since we saw them lose. Like, you have to, like, really reach into your memory bank.
- [47:39]
And even then it took, like, historic performance from Caitlin Clark to make them. You know, that's the only game in recent memory I can remember them losing.
- [47:47]
Chantel Jennings
They're such a good. They're just so well coached. And even if you're seeing some of the individual kind of. I don't even call it like fall offs, like, they're not falling off. They just have like off game or off court or whatever in the individual ranks as a team, they pull it together. They understand what it takes to win. And it's just like, it's surreal. When we started this conversation talking about Mark Campbell basically coaching WNBA players versus Michigan with a bunch of young freshmen, Dawn Staley, regardless of the ages that she's got across her group, she has, I mean, got it in their minds of what it takes to win. Now, here's my question, or not even a question, but I said this on the last pod, and I respect the hell out of South Carolina for this because I'm going to tell you a little bit about what they were going like in terms of who they've already played this year. Sure. Michigan wasn't ranked. Still really good opponent. They've played NC State, had a rematch of their semifinal game. They won that game. Coppin State, good effort. East Carolina, good effort. Coming up against Clemson. After Clemson, they play UCLA and Iowa State three games after. Two games after that. I don't even want to skip about Purdue. Purdue is a good opponent. Duke after Purdue and then TCU after that. This is one of the only teams in the country that is significantly, consistently setting themselves up to play against legitimate teams in comparison to some of these other teams. We've talked about a few teams already today that have, hey, they're undefeated, but who are they playing with? South Carolina. These are some legitimate teams. What do you make of Dawn Stately setting her team up for success in comparison to other programs by consistently putting her team out in front of legitimate teams? I give her props. I think it's a big deal.
- [49:48]
Unknown
I think every coach has their own philosophy when it comes to scheduling. I mean, I think South Carolina And LSU are sort of the opposite ends of the spectrum where South Carolina, you listed everything and that's, that's run of the mill for what South Carolina is doing in their non conference schedule. That's how it is every year. It sets up nicely for ESPN and the national TV partners, you know, to have things to advertise during November and December and you can tell the specific lessons they learn from these moments. You mentioned the Duke and UNC games last year. I believe Don benched my Leisure Full Wiley for much of the second half in one of those games and told her it's because you're not playing defense. Right. Like we need you to commit to that side of the floor before you're going to be able to close out games and then against the other triangle opponent, Sorry, I forget which order it was. You know, she told Tahina, we're going to go with my leja here because we need to see how she responds in these moments. And so it's a specific moment where they were able to figure out, okay, what does our freshman star have? How can we get to her? How can we reach her? And you can only have those teachable moments when you're playing a Duke or North Carolina, not when you're playing, you know, East Norfolk State or whatever directional schools LSU happens to add to their schedule, but when you have programs where they're bringing in a lot of transfers. Right. And you don't know the, the makeup of your roster, what you have. I kind of understand wanting to just let your team breathe for a little bit. Like if we have seven new players on this roster, it's going to be really hard to show up against a Notre Dame or a Texas or a Purdue or anybody at this point of the season. So maybe it's okay that we get to ease into it and figure out what we have before loading up the gauntlet of the schedule. And you look at the last two national champions. Well, LSU won in 2023 with a pretty, pretty lame non conference schedule. So it's not as schedule. Yeah, a cupcake schedule. Right. Like the very opposite of a Murderer's Rose. So I think there's validity to both approaches. Personally, I prefer the loading up on the conference, the non conference schedule because it's a lot more fun for us to deal with. Like I don't feel like I've learned anything about LSU over these last two weeks, but I've definitely learned a lot about South Carolina and that's far more interesting for our purpose.
- [51:45]
Chantel, what are your thoughts Yeah, I mean, I completely agree with everything Sabrina said. I think you have different mentalities for different coaches. I also think someone like Don Staley understands what a ucla, South Carolina game in November means for women's college basketball. I think, you know, you see those coaches, Corey Close at ucla, same way Lindsey Gottlieb at usc, Gina Oriyama, Yukon, Neil Ivy at Notre Dame, that like, I think they, and I'm not saying other coaches that aren't scheduling these don't like give a shit about women's college basketball. But I think there is a part of Dawn Staley that wants to have these. November, December, I think the UConn game is February because it's later in the year. But they want to have those games because it does mean something to have those marquee matchups in November. December, the UNC game is a good example. Courtney Banghert said this game was supposed to be later in the year, but they had to move it up for different scheduling issues. I wish this would have been later, the Yukon game specifically. But you know, having having these games early, it's not just about like the fodder for us to talk about because it's way more exciting to talk about top 15, top 10 matchups than it is to talk about, you know, cupcakes. But I think there is a, there is a value for the growth of the game and what it means in November and December to have these marquee games on. Yeah.
- [52:58]
I also think that there's an evolution with certain coaches in terms of what stage of their program they are. Because we talked about TCU last year they went undefeated during their non conference schedule. I couldn't name to you a single team they played. Like probably colleges that I was unaware of their existence. Right. But you look at this season and they've got Notre Dame on their schedule. They had NC State on their schedule because this is year two for Mark Campbell and he knew that he would have a little bit more to work with at this point. So, you know, coming into a program, fresh start. Yeah, you're going to load up on some games that you think you're going to win to build excitement. But when it comes to winning time, when it comes to trying to build your program and figure out what you have, then you can move on to the. Okay, let's, let's try to find some good teams to schedule in November and December.
- [53:36]
Chantel Jennings
All right. I appreciate you guys helping me walk through that. I'm also a fan of the loading up because you know, Sabrina, as you mentioned learning something about these teams. And that's from a fan perspective, right? Not necessarily a coach inside their program wondering what are they learning about their own teams. I'm sure there's tons to be said about learning something against adversity, against a really good team versus blowing someone out by 60 points. But as a fan, you know, we want to see can South Carolina really beat a big team or a big name? Are these the usc and the UCLA's coming into the Big Ten? Like, what are they going to look like when they go up against the other 18 in that conference that are hungry to take them down? Yeah, it's just more interesting as a fan and I appreciate the nod to the fact that a lot of these coaches realize when you've got the eyeballs beyond just the actual basketball of it. But when you've got the eyeballs, let's capitalize on that as well, which is really cool. All right, we're about to close this all out. We got one more surprise. And actually what I need, I need Sabrina, Chantelle, you guys got to help me out with this because I'm not, I have to admit, we're not perfect, folks. I have not seen Kentucky play at length. I saw one quarter of their action. So I actually do not know what they really are looking like this year. But I do know that they're undefeated. I do know that they've won four games. I do know that Kenny Brooks is now the coach and he's got his girl Georgia Amore with him and apparently she's been going off just like she was when she was at Virginia Tech. Surprise me, like, what should I know about these Kentucky Wildcats under Kenny Brooks?
- [55:16]
Unknown
The surprising thing is if you just imagine that they're playing in maroon and orange instead of blue jerseys, this is a Virginia Tech team. There's nothing different already about what we are seeing from Kentucky that we saw the last four years at Virginia Tech with Georgia Amore and Elizabeth Kitley. And the strangest thing by far is that Clara Strack has this Elizabeth Kitley fadeaway down already. She, the footwork, the way she leans looks identical. It is crazy. I feel like Kitley should have trademarked it and like getting some commission every time Clara Strack uses this move. But Kenny Brooks knows how to teach what he wants to teach. And it doesn't matter who is playing for him. They all look like they are following the exact same system. It is remarkable that Kentucky Louisville game the other day, which I think is like the first time this intra state matchup has Mattered in maybe like 5 years. Awesome game, went into overtime. But like Jeff Waltz, system coach, you know, you know how Louisville's going to play. They apply pressure, they, you know, get at you all the way full court. He's been at Louisville for a very long time. Year one of Kenny Brooks. I already know how this is going to look at Kentucky. Like, I know how Georgia Amber is going to bring the ball up. I know how the screens are going to come. I know, you know, exactly what her shooters are going to do as they're running the four. It is just really, really impressive to me that the system looks just like it did. I mean, I guess that makes sense when you're bringing your point guard over, but we've heard a lot about what kind of teacher Kenny Brooks is in terms of like developing his players at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg over this these last few years. It's happened so fast at Kentucky. Like, I don't think Kentucky has the talent yet to be what Virginia Tech was, you know, in these last two seasons where they got to the Final Four. You know, won an ACC title last year before Keatley got hurt and missed the tournament. But the surprising thing to me is like, I don't feel like I'm watching anything different. I feel like I've seen this team before and almost. It's almost not a surprise, right? I watch Kentucky and it's not a surprise because I know this offense, I know this system, and just so happens to be in a different conference.
- [57:10]
Chantel Jennings
Now, I got a question because again, I did not. I did not get a chance to see that game, but I did look at the box score and some clips in general. And I want to ask about how Kenny is. Kenny Brooks is using Georgia Amore because when I looked at the box score, she had like 17 shots, like most shots on Kentucky's roster, but also like five or six more shots than anyone against Louisville. Is it as natural as it was at Virginia Tech or do you feel or see her going out of the bounds of what she typically does offensively in order to get those points up?
- [57:46]
Unknown
I mean, we got some heat checks. That is part of the Georgia Amore experience. You know, a little late clock action where nothing's really materializing. I've got to take a three. I've got to do something. Without Kitlee, the offense, even in the Kenny Brook system, is not entirely as smooth as you would hope it's going to be. But I think Georgia's doing what Georgia has always done, and sometimes that means that she's a Little bit more ball dominant, a little bit more shot dominant. The players around her a little bit younger. You know, Taone Kee didn't get a lot of run at North Carolina. They have this player from Australia, Amelia Bassett, who this is her first year of college basketball. So there's just some like acclimating to do in. When it comes to a grenade at the end of the shock like that, that is what Georgia Amore is built for. So I don't think there was any off balance. I'm sure they'd love to distribute the action more towards everybody else on the roster. More Strack, more Clara Silva in particular. But no, I didn't watch that game thinking that Georgia was taking too much upon herself. It's just she's the most veteran player on the roster. She knows what to expect. She's played Louisville a number of times. Right. This is a deponent that she is familiar with. So I think that's really what that amounted to.
- [58:51]
I also think overall, like, she's averaging fewer field goal attempts this season than she was a year ago. The Louisville game is a game where she was required to do more because it was, you know, the best competition they've played. Georgia knows that level of competition. She knows this specific opponent really, really well. But also I think Sabrina hit on it where it's like, I think even if they're back at Virginia Tech, if you're a fifth year player and especially if you're a fifth year point guard with the same coach, like you're going to shoulder more, you're going to end up taking more of those late shot clock shots like she would have. I think even if they were back at Virginia Tech, sort of been taking 17 field goal attempts in a game of this magnitude.
- [59:27]
Chantel Jennings
Okay, all right, all right. That makes sense. I can't wait to watch them play. I do have to sit down and like actually get an idea of what they're doing because I feel as if, of course, seeing a box score doesn't mean a lot, but I also feel like Georgia Amore can't do it on her own. And I'm curious to see how these players around her are going to be able to kind of like step up and be able to kind of elevate Sabrina orchantel. I'm wondering what would be the expectation for Kentucky in the sec? Like, what would you think is a great performance for them?
- [60:02]
Unknown
The SEC is another conference like the Big Ten where the teams that are coming in sort of slate into that top third. And I don't know if Kentucky is there yet, like when you bring Texas and Oklahoma into the league and I'm really high on Oklahoma. I think the Reagan Beers impact is, you know, made them a contender because of what they can do on the glass and on the inside. And sort of looking at those numbers early on, like their post game is just stronger and they can still run and gun quite a bit. I think we're probably. And obviously this changes because Georgia Amor will not be there next year. And so much of who we've come to know about Kenny Brooks and his system is built on what Georgia has, has done in that offense and defense for them. And so I would say, like, you know, I think the middle, like they're a tournament team, I think, because. Because Georgia is Georgia and she could go off at any point. Like I think they can win some NCAA tournament games. I don't think they're a Final Four team. I don't think they're the top third of the sec, but I do think they're. They're really solid. Really, really solid. I don't know, Sabrina, what you think about them.
- [61:00]
I mean, they're ranked around number 20 right now. So if you're Kenny Brooks, you're thinking, can we host? Like, that's always what I'm thinking at this point. If you're in the, the 16ish range, right, like that's your goal. You want to be a top 16 team.
- [61:12]
Chantel Jennings
They're at 15 now.
- [61:13]
Unknown
They're probably a year away from that, I would think, just because the SEC schedule is going to expose some things, I imagine. But I'm at the point where like I'd want to win a tournament game. Like that's sort of where I land with Kentucky.
- [61:25]
Chantel Jennings
Okay, well, I've got my eye on their schedule. Games that I'm particularly interested to see how they perform against Arizona State. They're 4 and 2 right now, but particularly November 27th against Illinois. Illinois has had some interesting games as of late, really showing themselves as a competitive team. So got my eye circle on that one to be able to watch and see what can I learn about Kentucky? All right, before we get out of here, I want to know who are you guys watching? Who's on your radar for this week that you got circled and you're interested in and seeing?
- [61:58]
Unknown
I mean, I think that the two obvious games which are in Sabrina's neck of the woods. I'm pretty jealous that LA is like the epicenter of women's college basketball this weekend and I'll be in very cold Minnesota, but you've got Notre Dame traveling out to play USC in South Carolina traveling out to play ucla. So I think those are the two games where when we're talking about learning about Final Four potential teams, like we spent a lot of time thinking about like pie in the sky ideas and projecting forward. Like next Monday we're going to be able to talk about like what did we specifically learn about these elite teams and what does that mean for how we think about women's college basketball this season moving forward?
- [62:36]
Chantel Jennings
I mean, Sabrina, will you be at those games?
- [62:38]
Unknown
Yeah, I think Chantelle outlined it very nicely. A Final Four weekend in Los Angeles, as the coaches are calling it.
- [62:44]
Chantel Jennings
Yeah, no lit like quite literally, which is so fun. And take advantage, guys. That's going to be Saturday, November 23rd. Notre Dame and USC will be at 1pm and that's 1pm PT. So 4pm Eastern. Sorry guys. On the East Coast a little bit later and then on Sunday, same time, South Carolina versus ucla. So I think those are the two big games that we've got circled here at the Athletic. But of course, tons of women's college basketball all across the country from now until those games. Definitely enjoy them. It's been so much fun just being back in in the mix of things and also starting to see a little bit of parody. We didn't get to this today, but we'll talk about this eventually. How many hundred point games have we seen already this season? Like people are putting up some real numbers. They were not doing this to this degree when I played. I'm telling you, three point line has been abused. All right, folks, we got to close it out. We appreciate you all tuning in today. Again, hit that subscribe button on this pod on the site. Got to go read those power rankings every week. They're not just rankings, folks. That's what's really cool. There's interesting storylines being told about the different teams within the rankings as well and they break down like offense and defense and different things that teams could be doing to capitalize on particular players. So you're going to not only see who's in what ranking, but you'll also be able to learn something new. So definitely subscribe there. Leave us comments as always, if you have some topics that you want us to talk about or cover. For now, on behalf of Chantelle Jennings, Sabrina Merchant, I'm Gina Keda thanking you for your ear as always and encouraging you. Keep listening, keep watching, keep learning and keep loving the game because that's the only way we're going to keep growing it until next time.
- [64:36]
Sabrina Merchant
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- [65:02]
G
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- [65:55]
Chantel Jennings
Acast powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend. Hey guys. Welcome to Giggly Squad, a place where.
- [66:05]
Unknown
We make fun of everything but most importantly ourselves.
- [66:08]
Chantel Jennings
I'm Paige desorbo.
- [66:09]
Unknown
I'm Hannah Berner.
- [66:10]
Chantel Jennings
Welcome to the Squad.
- [66:11]
Unknown
Giggly Squad started on Summer House when we were giggling during an inappropriate time.
- [66:15]
But of course we can't be managed.
- [66:18]
So we decided to start this podcast to continue giggling.
- [66:21]
Chantel Jennings
We will make fun of pop culture news.
- [66:23]
Unknown
We're watching fashion trends pep talks where.
- [66:26]
Chantel Jennings
We give advice, mental health moments and games and guests.
- [66:29]
Unknown
Listen to Giggly Squad on Acast or wherever you get your podcasts. Acast helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere.
- [66:40]
Acast.
- [66:41]
Com.