Women’s Basketball Games of the Week 2/13 – 2/17
If you’re looking for huge, tense showdowns all week long between women’s basketball powerhouses, you picked the wrong week. If you’re looking for big games, this isn’t really a good week either. Sure, there are big showdowns in the SEC and Big Ten to keep the die-hards occupied, but a lot of this week’s action concerns games between teams far apart in their conference standings. The weekend may be a different story, but for now concern yourself with these matchups.
MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE at SOUTHERN (6:30 p.m. Monday at F.G. Clark Activity Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
This is a showdown between the top two teams in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, as each team sports identical 9-3 records and is two games ahead of a pack that includes Alabama A&M, Grambling State and Alcorn State. The SWAC isn’t a strong conference at all; in fact, only four of the league’s teams have records at or above .500. Mississippi Valley State (12-11, 9-3) won 78-61 in the teams’ earlier meeting, but it just lost 65-61 to Alcorn State. Southern has won five of six, including a 62-48 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff and a 65-60 win over Jacksonville State.
No. 6 KENTUCKY at No. 11 TENNESSEE (7 p.m. Monday at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee)
It isn’t an easy road for Kentucky by any means with five games remaining in the regular season. The Wildcats (21-3, 10-1) beat Tennessee 61-60 in the first meeting between these schools, part of a 10-game winning streak that was interrupted by a 61-51 loss to LSU. Kentucky is two games ahead of Tennessee (17-7, 8-3) in the standings, and if Kentucky wins it would be three up with four games remaining. That’s not quite clinching a title, but it’s close. Tennessee just lost 93-79 to Vanderbilt, a frustrating step backward for a team that had been doing much better as of late.
No. 10 PENN STATE at No. 15 PURDUE (6 p.m. Thursday at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana)
Just like their male counterparts in the Big Ten, the women’s basketball conference race is coming down to the wire. Penn State (20-5, 10-3) is a half-game ahead of Ohio State and Purdue and a full game ahead of Nebraska in the standings, and the Lady Lions are on a four-game winning streak that includes a 77-63 win over Northwestern. Just two games remain following this contest for Penn State, but one of them is Ohio State (the other is Minnesota), so back-to-back Lion victories could bring the Big Ten title to Happy Valley. Purdue (19-6, 9-3) just lost to Ohio State 80-71 despite 22 points by Brittany Rayburn, and the Boilermakers close their season with three games against Michigan State, Michigan and Indiana. All three of those teams are at or below the middle of the standings, so a win by Purdue may go a long way toward keeping those title hopes alive.
No. 17 GEORGIA at SOUTH CAROLINA (7 p.m. Thursday at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina)
Kentucky looks like it has the upper hand in the SEC, so this game is more jockeying for position in the postseason than anything else. Georgia and South Carolina sport identical records of 19-6 overall and 8-4 in the SEC, and this is the first meeting between the schools this season. Georgia has beaten Mississippi State, Alabama and Vanderbilt in the last three games, while South Carolina has beaten Tennessee and Florida but lost to Arkansas. Arkansas is the other team tied with Georgia and South Carolina in the standings, so this loss is certainly nothing to be ashamed of, but the Gamecocks hope to play better in the days ahead.
PACIFIC at CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE (10 p.m. Thursday at The Matadome in Los Angeles, California)
The Big West Conference is a mid-major league that doesn’t get a lot of attention unless you live in California and follow all levels of basketball out there. Pacific (14-9, 7-4) lost to Northridge 72-68 in mid- January, but the Tigers have won four in a row and are coming off an 87-63 win over UC-Irvine. Pacific is tied for third in the league, a half-game behind Cal Poly and one game behind Northridge (14-10, 8-3). The Tigers have games remaining with UC-Davis and Cal Poly, so this league race is still in flux. Northridge’s four-game winning streak was snapped when it fell 75-72 in double overtime to Long Beach State, and its other league losses came against Davis and UC-Santa Barbara.
