NCAAW midseason title odds: South Carolina and Stanford remain at the top

Breaking down the favorites to win this season’s NCAA Championship.

The holidays have passed us by, the new calendar year is here and time is flying. As it relates to women’s college basketball, time is really flying — conference play has begun and just about half of the season is in the books.

Many things have developed over time, including key injuries, huge upset losses, and both surprising and disappointing seasons from several teams.

But through all of the season’s happenings, some things have remained the same: the preseason’s elite teams are still the ones best in position to win a national championship.

From longest to shortest, here are the five women’s college basketball teams with the best title odds at DraftKings Sportsbook.

Michigan vs. North Carolina, live stream, TV channel, time, odds, how to watch women’s college basketball

The #19 Michigan Wolverines will meet the #6 North Carolina Tar Heels in the Jumpman Invitational on Tuesday night from the Spectrum Center.

The North Carolina Tar Heels are looking to extend their threegame winning streak when they host the Michigan Wolverines on Tuesday night at Spectrum Center. The Tar Heels have been on a roll recently, with an 8947 victory over South Carolina Upstate in their last outing. Deja Kelly led the way with 20 points for North Carolina, who dominated the game from start to finish.

This will be a great game between these top-ranked teams in women’s hoops, here is everything you need to know to watch and stream the game.

#19 Michigan vs. #6 North Carolina

  • When: Tuesday, December 20
  • Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: ESPN2
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)

NCAA Basketball Odds and Betting Lines

NCAA Basketball odds courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook. Odds last updated Tuesday at 2:35 p.m. ET.

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No. 25 Villanova and Maddy Siegrist will put on a show against No. 14 Iowa State

Maddy Siegrist vs. Ashley Joens deserves your attention

Women’s Hoops Heat Check is back with Cole Huff and Mitchell Northam. Part 1: Standout Players can be read here. Part 2: What we loved last week is here. Part 3: Things we hated over the last week and the most notable moments. Part 4 looks ahead to the top matchup this weekend.

Iowa State vs. Villanova

I feel like I keep writing about Villanova forward Maddy Siegrist in this column, but it’s not without merit. The Wildcat is still one of the nation’s leading scorers at 27.4 points per game, and she leads the nation in offensive win shares with 4.5 so far this season, and she’s fourth in PER, according to HerHoopStats. Villanova is 9-2 and Siegrist is a huge reason why.

On Sunday, the No. 25 Wildcats will face one of the toughest opponents they’ll see all season, when they meet No. 14 Iowa State in a neutral site contest in Uncasville, Connecticut. The Cyclones are 7-2 and powered once again this season by All-American forward Ashley Joens, who is averaging 19.6 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. The two-time Cheryl Miller Award-winner poured in 22 points in her last outing.

This matchup gets the ESPN treatment at 3:30 p.m. EST. A win for Villanova could give it some major confidence heading into Big East play.

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Midday games during the week are stunting growth of women’s college basketball

Plus the most must-see moments of the week in women’s hoops

Women’s Hoops Heat Check is back with Cole Huff and Mitchell Northam. Part 1: Standout Players can be read here. Part 2: What we loved last week is here. For Part 3 we’re looking at things we hated over the last week and the most notable moments.

Cole: Midday Games

Very quick rant: I HATE that so many women’s college basketball games are played during the middle of weekdays at random times. Like, I’ll be in the middle of my workday and realize I’ve missed half of a basketball game I really wanted to watch.

For example, Aneesah Morrow’s DePaul Blue Demons played at 12:00 p.m. ET on Monday, Boston College played at 11:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday and No. 13 Utah took the floor on Wednesday for a 5:00 p.m. ET tip (not that bad, I guess). But I’m on the West Coast, so these games are early and hard to catch live.

Sure, recording games is an option if it’s on TV and you don’t have to go through the rigors of paying for different streaming services. But in a sport that continues to grow and become more visible, it would be nice if more of these games could be played when viewers have time to tune in and watch.

Maybe it’s not possible, given multiple teams on campus share venues. But that’s just my rant for the week.

(Note from Mitch: Also, stop playing games on FloHoops, y’all.)

Mitch: A season without Tamari Key

Women’s basketball this year just won’t be as fun without one of the nation’s best shot-blockers. Last week, Tennessee – whose rough season just seems to be getting worse – announced that senior center Tamari Key would sit out the rest of the season after blood clots were discovered in her lungs.

Key wasn’t just an essential piece to Tennessee’s success; she was one of the top post players in the country when she was at her best. She was third in the nation last season in blocks with 3.5 per game. This season, she was shooting a career-best 66.7% from the floor. Key was also, up to this point, incredibly durable. Last Tuesday was the first time ever she missed a game for the Vols.

The 6-foot-6 forward is expected to make a full recovery and has eligibility to play college ball again next season. And we can’t wait for her return to the court.

Notable Moments This Week

Mitch: Maryland’s dramatic wins

The Terps have had a wild last two games. In their first Big Ten road game of the season, Maryland was tied 74-74 with Purdue with 6.5 seconds left. Princeton transfer Abby Meyers got the ball, drove to her left into the paint and was suddenly surrounded by a pair of Boilermakers. She looked to the top of the key and found sophomore Shyanne Sellers, who was wide open.

“The play was drawn up for Abby and I saw she was going to be in a little bit of trouble, so I just filled in behind like we did in practice this week,” Sellers said. “I saw the clock and saw that there was like 1.5 seconds and I was like, ‘I don’t have time to dribble and pull up’, so I just shot it. It’s going in—that’s what I thought.”

Sellers had 15 points and five assists in that buzzer-beating victory. It wasn’t just any win though. Sellers’ heroics gave Maryland coach Brenda Frese her 600th career win. Which caused for a celebration with… a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hat.

Then, on Sunday, Sellers tallied 19 points and six assists in Maryland’s win over a depleted and banged-up UConn team. It was the Terps’ first-ever win over the Huskies; they had previously been 0-7. But Maryland still needed some late-game magic to shut the door on UConn. This time, Diamond Miller delivered the dagger.

These finishes – combined with the Terps’ upset over Notre Dame earlier this season – should tell us that we can’t count out shell-shocking Maryland in any late-game situations this year.

Cole: Brittney Griner returns home!

This isn’t directly correlated to all that is happening in women’s basketball at the moment. However, Brittney Griner is a women’s basketball icon, and her release is important to talk about.

It had been far too long since Brittney Griner’s wrongful detainment in Russia — 294 days, to be exact. And after being sentenced to nine years, having been relocated to a penal colony and having her communication with others limited throughout the nearly 300 days, Griner is now free and back on U.S. soil. Her release was reported last Thursday, which came by way of a prisoner swap.

For those interested in the basketball-related happenings in Griner’s world, ESPN’s T.J. Quinn reported that Griner had already picked up a basketball and begun a light basketball workout.

When or if Griner resumes her professional basketball career is irrelevant, though she says she wants to play in the WNBA this season. But it is cool to see that basketball has offered her enough peace of mind to serve as a bit of a sanctuary after being away from it for around 10 months.

I think I speak for everyone when I express how relieved and happy were are to have Griner back home where she belongs. Hopefully, she will be offered all of the privacy support, time and help she needs to heal from such a devastating experience.

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Kansas, Virginia and the most surprising undefeated teams in women’s hoops

Parity is alive and well across women’s college basketball

Women’s Hoops Heat Check is back with Cole Huff and Mitchell Northam. Part 1: Standout Players can be read here. In Part 2 we’re looking at the things we loved seeing this week.

Cole: Kansas in the Top 25

A national championship on the men’s side, a return to relevance on the football field, and now the Jayhawks’ women’s basketball team has entered the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2013. It’s got to be a tremendous feeling these days to be a Kansas Jayhawk fan.

According to Bet For The Win’s very own KU alum, Black Schuster, the vibes are immaculate.

Anyways, KU crossed the country and went into Tucson last Thursday with something to beat the “this team isn’t legitimate quite yet” allegations. Their response? How about completely stomping the then-undefeated and 12th-ranked Arizona Wildcats by nearly 30 points on their home court? The win itself served as a statement to the rest of the basketball world, like, “Yeah, we are for real.”

The good news for those somehow still on the fence about KU’s rapid rise is that this is an experienced Jayhawks team. Four current starters (Taiyanna Jackson, Holly Kersgieter, Zakiyah Franklin and Chandler Prater) played a role in the team’s NCAA Tournament appearance last season. Now, with the transferring in of junior guard Wyvette Mayberry from Tulsa, the Jayhawks have a mature group that’s taken a step and is building off of last season’s momentum.

Mitch: Additional Unlikely Undefeateds

Cole mentioned Kansas above, and indeed, the Jayhawks are having a great start to their season. As of Thursday night, Kansas was one of 12 undefeated teams remaining in women’s college basketball. A few of them – like South Carolina, Indiana and LSU – could’ve been predicted before the season started. But there’s a couple others like Kansas that are having historically great starts this year.

Let’s start with Virginia. The Cavaliers are 11-0, giving them their best start to a season since 1991, and their first 11-game winning streak since 1995. Back in those days – under the direction of Debbie Ryan – the ‘Hoos were regularly making deep runs in March. Just a berth in the NCAA Tournament this season would be a welcome change of pace for fans in Charlottesville, as the Cavaliers never had a winning season – much less went dancing – in Tina Thompson’s four seasons at the helm. Coached now by Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, this Virginia team is powered by Mir McLean, who is averaging a double-double.

The Rice Owls are undefeated too with an 8-0 record – their best start in program history – in Lindsay Edmonds’ first season on the job. Most recently, Rice has registered three straight in-state wins over power programs in Texas A&M, TCU and Houston. The Owls are 17th in the nation in rebound rate and 20th in 3-point defense, allowing opponents to connect on just 24.2% of their shots from deep. Rice’s C-USA opener against Middle Tennessee State (which upset Louisville) on Dec. 20 is shaping up to be a sneaky-good matchup.

And then there’s St. John’s, which is 10-0 and has a win over a ranked Creighton team. It’s the best start to a season by a Red Storm team since the 2014-15 season, and they need just one more win to tie the best start in program history set in the 2004-05 season. St. John’s is led this season by three-time transfer Jayla Everett, who is averaging 15.6 points per game while shooting 40.6% from the floor.

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Aneesah Morrow and Ta’Niya Latson have reached ‘must-watch’ territory

Get caught up on the latest in women’s college hoops with the Heat Check

Women’s Hoops Heat Check is back with Cole Huff and Mitchell Northam. Part 1: Standout Players

Cole: Aneesah Morrow, DePaul

Look, you are worthy of praise whenever you crack 40 points in any level of basketball, whether in a Boys & Girls Club league, an AAU tournament, or college and professional ball — 40 points means you were feelin’ it. And Aneesah Morrow was certainly feelin’ it last Saturday when she dropped 45 big ones against Northeastern. On top of that, she pulled down 13 boards and registered five steals en route to a DePaul win.

And while this is undoubtedly a massive performance, the bigger picture is that nights like these are becoming regular. Maybe not 45-point outings. However, the steals and 30-plus-point double-doubles are — it was Morrow’s third of the season and the fourth time this year she’s reached five steals in a game. With that, she’s played her way into National Player of the Year status, though she did suffer a knee injury that forced her to exit early and miss most of DePaul’s win over Howard on Monday.

Nevertheless, take note of the do-it-all sophomore forward if you haven’t already. You’ll want to lock in on Morrow each time she takes the basketball court.

Mitch: Ta’Niya Latson, Florida State

There were a lot of reasons to doubt Florida State this season. The Seminoles were going through a coaching transition, as Sue Semrau stepped away for good to hand the reins off to Brooke Wyckoff. Three of FSU’s top players last season – Morgan Jones, River Baldwin and Sammie Puisis – transferred to other schools. In the offseason, FSU didn’t really reload, and entered the year with just 10 rostered players.

But one player that the Seminoles did add was Ta’Niya Latson – a freshman from Miami who was named Florida’s Miss Basketball. It seemed apparent that Latson would get plenty of opportunities to play and shine, but could she carry the Seminoles to a winning record?

So far, she’s doing that and so much more. Florida State is 10-1 and Latson has been voted ACC Rookie of the Week for five straight weeks – that’s every week so far this season. She’s one of the five top scorers in the nation, averaging 25.5 points per game. Latson has scored double digit points in every collegiate game she’s played in so far, and most recently poured in 34 points on 19 shots in a win over Texas Southern.

And get this: Since the beginning of the HerHoopStats era in 2009, Latson is the only freshman to average at least 24 points per game while shooting better than 49% from the floor. And we’ve had a lot of great rookies in women’s college basketball in that time, from Elena Delle Donne to Chennedy Carter. Latson is doing something that none of them ever did, and we should be talking more about it.

Latson will get the chance on Sunday to impress on national TV: FSU plays against UConn on Sunday at 1 p.m. on ESPN.

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Women’s Hoops Heat Check: Georgia Amoore makes history, Utah surges and fallout from the Las Vegas Invitational

Lots happened over the past week of women’s college basketball.

A month of the women’s college basketball season is in the books. Can you believe it? We’re just weeks away from the end of the non-conference schedule and plenty of happenings in the world of women’s college basketball have shaken up the sport.

Injuries, unfortunately, stole a lot of the headlines over what was another entertaining week of basketball.

In this week’s Heat Check, we pinpoint those injuries and discuss some of the other disappointing news within women’s college basketball while also highlighting the more positive performances and moments of the past week.

Here comes the heat. Check it out.

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UConn star Azzi Fudd to miss 3-6 weeks after injuring right knee against Notre Dame

Injury news is always tough.

The 2022-23 women’s college basketball season has yet to complete its first full month of play and the sport has already received its first tough break of the year.

For the second season in a row, one of the nation’s top players will be sidelined for quite a bit of time. And for the second straight season, that player is a UConn Husky.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Huskies women’s basketball program announced that standout sophomore guard Azzi Fudd is expected to miss three-to-six weeks after sustaining a right knee injury in a game against Notre Dame over the past weekend.

Unfortunately for Fudd, who was averaging 24.0 points per game before Sunday’s showdown with the Fighting Irish (which she exited in the first half), the recent injury is just the latest of her early career. Last season as a freshman, she missed around two months with a foot injury sustained just before Thanksgiving, which kept her out until the thick of conference play.

As Fudd recovers and rehabilitates the right knee, she’ll join another injured star Husky on the sidelines. Junior guard Paige Bueckers also missed a chunk of her sophomore season before suffering a torn left ACL this past offseason to put her 2022-23 season completely out of the question.

UConn, now 6-1 and out of the Top 5, will have to stem the tide while Fudd is out of the lineup. Head coach Geno Auriemma’s squad did just that a season ago while Bueckers rehabilitated, and then went on to march to the 2022 national championship game, where they finished as the runner-up.

Can they draw from prior experiences?

The Huskies have +7000 national championship odds at DraftKings Sportsbook.

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Kevin Durant was impressed by Maryland’s ‘killer’ Diamond Miller after she drained a sweet game-winner to upset Notre Dame

Diamond Miller showed us her best Dirk Nowitzki impression.

Diamond Miller silenced the crowd in South Bend, Indiana and any critics she or the Maryland Terrapins might have had Thursday night.

With 15 seconds left in one of the final ACC/Big Ten Challenge games, No. 20 Maryland was tied 72-72 on the road with No. 7 Notre Dame. The Terps had the ball, and quite a bit was on the line for them.

Maryland tumbled six spots in the most recent AP Top 25 Poll after losing to unranked DePaul. Another defeat could have bounced them from the national ranking – and Maryland has been ranked in every single AP Top 25 Poll since 2011. It’s the third-longest streak in the country behind UConn and Baylor.

But Maryland wouldn’t falter again. They put the ball in the hands of their best playmaker – someone who is likely to be a top five WNBA Draft pick this spring.

Shyanne Sellers dribbled a bit, then gave the ball up to Miller just inside the top of the key. After bobbling it, Miller settled, took six dribbles as she drove to her left, pulled up off a crossover, leaned back on her left leg and let the ball fly.

Swish. Buzzer. Game. Terps.

It looked like Miller pulled the move straight out of Dirk Nowitzki’s highlight reel. Even Maryland native Kevin Durant thought it was wildly impressive.

Maryland improved to 7-2 with the victory, and the Terps got their second win of the season over a ranked opponent. Miller had a double-double in that game too, a win over Baylor.

It was the first time Maryland had beaten a top 10 team on the road since 2016, when they topped then-No. 7 Louisville. For Notre Dame, it was the Irish’s first loss of the season.

“At that point, we knew the ball was going to go to Diamond, who had the hot hand,” Maryland coach Brenda Frese said after the game. “She executed it to perfection.”

The historic win for Maryland was made possible by Miller, who finished with 31 points, 12 boards and five assists – leading the Terps in each category.

“I just wanted to take the last shot. I didn’t want them to get another possession,” Miller said. “I just kind of got to my spot and shot it… This is what we do at Maryland. You come here to play in these big-time games.”

Under Frese, Maryland now has 26 wins over AP top 10 teams.

Miller was flattered to get a shoutout from Durant on Twitter. When she was asked about it, she took the opportunity to make a simple point: If folks want to see more ballers like her and more fun finishes like this, they should watch more women’s basketball.

“That is really, really cool. Wow. That is something I have to process later. The fact that he’s in the NBA and that he supports women’s basketball is really huge,” Miller said. “We’re just going to keep growing the game and people need to watch us because we all can ball and we all are talented. Just because we’re women doesn’t mean we’re less than any man.”

Maryland lost three starters from last season’s team to the transfer portal this past offseason. Frese then rebuilt the roster around Miller. This game showed that as long as Miller is healthy, folks shouldn’t overlook the Terps when considering contenders.

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Women’s Hoops Heat Check: Aaliyah Edwards’ ascent and a brewing Big East title battle

Looking back at all that took place in women’s college basketball over the past week.

Welcome to December! More importantly, welcome to the second Women’s Hoops Heat Check.

Since we last tapped in about a week ago, the women’s college basketball season has gotten even more interesting. So of course, we’ve got to chime in.

As we turn the page on Feast Weak and inch closer to the end of non-conference play, our NCAAW team of Cole Huff and Mitchell Northam give a rundown of which players and teams recently had noteworthy moments (for both good and not-so-good reasons), while circling a few upcoming games and matchups that we suggest tuning in to.

Let’s (Heat) check it out.