South Carolina, Iowa among five women’s college basketball games to watch this weekend

Caitlin Clark is gone to the WNBA where she continues to shatter records, so where does that leave women’s college basketball?

As it turns out, with a whole lot of star power — much of it in unfamiliar uniforms this season.

The first weekend of the women’s college basketball season is packed with must-see TV, including a couple top 25 matchups where we’ll get a glimpse at teams that could make a Final Four push. Teams like South Carolina, which entered the season favored to win the 2025 title, and North Carolina State are back with lots of familiar faces, while programs like Duke and Maryland have new players that should bring plenty of eyeballs.

And yes, even though they’re not currently ranked in the USA TODAY Sports women’s basketball coaches poll, the Iowa Hawkeyes will indeed be worthy of your attention. First-year coach Jan Jensen, who took over after 24 years as Lisa Bluder’s assistant, is expected to keep the Hawkeyes as one of the highest-scoring teams in the country even without Clark.

Here are the five best women’s basketball games to watch tonight and this weekend.

(Note: All stats referenced are from the 2023-24 season)

No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 8 North Carolina State

Sunday, 3 p.m. ET on ESPN

The defending national champs got welcome news earlier this week when the assault charges against forward Ashlyn Watkins were dismissed, allowing here to rejoin the Gamecocks. She hasn’t practiced with the team in two months, so we’re not sure how much we’ll see her against the Wolfpack in the first game of the Ally Tipoff — and a rematch of the 2024 national semifinal won by South Carolina on its way to the title. If the Gamecocks need some rebounding Sunday, they can surely count on Watkins, who averaged 9.0 boards per game and 2.3 blocks during their tournament run. To pull off a preseason upset NC State will need big play from its backcourt featuring Aziaha James (16.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg) and Saniya Rivers (12.5 ppg, 6.1 rpg).

South Carolina forward Ashlyn…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/south-carolina-iowa-among-five-110716645.html

Author : USA TODAY Sports

Publish date : 2024-11-08 11:07:00

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