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After a somewhat calm start to the 2024-25 season, chaos has begun to infect women’s college basketball, with more tumbles from top teams following last week’s upsets:

Feast Week’s peaks and valleys

Among a buffet of Thanksgiving week women’s basketball that included back-and-forth battles, close calls and blowouts, a few teams’ performances stood out above others, for both the right and wrong reasons.

TCU has earned top billing. Unranked to begin the season, they’re sure to shoot up the rankings after knocking off Notre Dame on Friday, with grad guard Hailey Van Lith’s 19 second-half points helping the Horned Frogs overcome a 14-point third-quarter deficit to take down the Irish, 76-68, at the Cayman Islands Classic. The Horned Frogs also avoided a letdown game after leftovers, taking care of South Florida, 87-46, on Saturday. Van Lith again led the way with 21 points and eight assists, while grad center Sedona Prince, named the tournament’s MVP, followed up her 20-20 performance against Notre Dame with a double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds.

In contrast, it was a bleak Feast Week for Notre Dame. The Irish had the opportunity to show that their slip up against TCU was a mere blip by responding to their second-half stumble against the Horned Frogs with an authoritative win over Utah. Instead, the Irish suffered a second-straight upset on Saturday. In the 78-67 win, new Utah head coach Gavin Peterson benefitted from balanced production, with junior guard Gianna Kneepkens scoring 16 points and senior guard Kennady McQueen contributing 15 points to lead the Utes.

Conversely, a lack of bodies appears to be catching up with head coach Niele Ivey’s team. Although Hannah Hidalgo never appears short on energy or intensity, back-to-back 40-minute efforts appeared to have sapped some of the sophomore guard’s verve, as she shot just 6-for-17 from the field and scored a season-low 16 points against the Utes. Senior guard Olivia Miles managed just seven shot attempts, while senior guard Sonia Citron, who also logged 40 minutes, led the team with 22 points. Even if their returns will not lessen the load on the Irish guards, senior forwards Maddy Westbeld and Liza Karlen, both of whom have been recovering from injuries, will offer more options for the Irish.

South Carolina responded to their humbling at the hands of UCLA last Sunday in signature South Carolina fashion. Smothering defense delivered the Gamecocks’ dominant wins at the Fort Myers Tip Off. First, they silenced Iowa State, 76-36. Then, they pulverized Purdue, 99-51. Both victories also proved the power of South Carolina’s depth. While the offense remained clunky against the Cyclones, the Gamecocks got matching, team-leading 13-point efforts from the starting lineup and the bench, via senior forward Sania Feagin and freshman forward Joyce Edwards, respectively. Against the Boilermakers, the Gamecocks’ offense came alive, with sophomore guard MiLaysia Fulwiley scoring 14 points from off the bench to lead the team’s seven double-figure scorers.

It looked like LSU’s Charmin-soft early-season schedule was about to cost them in their first game of the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship on Monday. They barely escaped against Washington, 68-67, the first Power 5 team the Tigers had played this season. Head coach Kim Mulkey’s squad, however, disabused any doubts about their quality with a complete victory over NC State, 82-65, on Wednesday. NC State head coach Wes Moore, who also has seen South Carolina and TCU up close this season, said of LSU, “That’s what a Final Four team looks like.” (More on the performance of tournament MVP, LSU senior wing Aneesah Morrow, below.)

Great-ful performances

Now for some deserved and delightful appreciation for some of the best individual efforts from Feast Week:

• On Monday, Duke met Kansas State in the opener of the Ball Dawgs Classic. The game turned into the Ashlon Jackson show. The junior guard scored 30 points, swishing six of her nine 3-point attempts. The Blue Devils defeated the Wildcats 73-62, earning a matchup against Oklahoma in the Ball Dawgs title game on Wednesday. In that overtime thriller, it was senior guard Reigan Richardson’s turn to go off. The tournament MVP netted a career-high 35 points, swishing five triples. She also tallied seven assists in the Blue Devils’ 109-99 win. The Sooners also posted some far-from-shabby performances in the shoot out, headlined by senior guard Peyton Verhulst’s triple-double of 29 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Verhulst also was responsible for the buzzer-beating 3 that sent the game into OT.

• It’s been a rough start to the season for Texas A&M. At 4-4, the team has two losses to mid-major opponents. In a competitive SEC, wins might be hard to come by for the Aggies. So, let’s give some love to Jada Malone. The senior forward not only scored a career-high 26 points when A&M defeated Southern Miss, 79-57, on Monday, but she also registered the second-most efficient shooting performance in program history, going 11-for-12 from the floor and making all four of her free throws.

• Oklahoma State obliterated Chicago State on Monday, 113-50. The 113 points scored is a new OSU record. The Cowgirls’ offensive explosion was led by junior guard Micah Gray, who made a program-record 10 of her team’s program-record 16 3-pointers. Gray finished with 36 points.

• In his preview of the Acrisure Classic, Edwin Garcia noted that Khamil Pierre could have some big games for Vanderbilt. Well, the sophomore forward did not disappoint. In the Commodores’ win over Arizona on Tuesday, 71-60, Pierre posted a 25-point and 15-rebound double-double. She also racked up seven steals! Vandy, however, did not escape Palm Springs unscathed, falling to Michigan State in the tournament’s title game on Wednesday. The Spartans’ victory was spurred by grad wings Julia Ayrault’s and Grave Vanslooten’s double-doubles. Ayrault had 24 points and 12 rebounds, while Vanslooten, who passed the 1,000-career points plateau in the game, finished with 25 points and 10 boards in Michigan State’s 78-70 win.

• LSU senior wing Aneesah Morrow is the sport’s double-double queen. She’s making them seem routine. When LSU pounded NC State, 82-65, to win the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship on Wednesday, Morrow turned in 20 points and 15 boards for the Tigers. Her seventh double-double of the season also helped her earned tournament MVP honors. Morrow, who remains the nation’s leading rebounder, registered her eighth double-double as the Tigers smoked NC Central, 131-44, on Sunday.

• Penn State stands an undefeated 8-0 in large part due to the play of Gracie Merkle, the 6-foot-6 sophomore center who joined the Lady Lions after an ASUN Freshman of the Year season at Bellarmine. Most recently, she put up a 31-point and 11-rebound double-double in an overtime win over Drexel on Wednesday, 86-78.

• The nation’s leading scorer put up another big number on Thanksgiving Day. Florida State junior guard Ta’Niya Latson treated Texas Tech to a 30-piece in the 70-62 Seminole win at the Paradise Jam. She also tallied her second-career double-double, tying her career-best by grabbing 11 boards. After scoring 21 points in Florida State’s Friday win over Missouri State, 97-66, she posted her first-career triple-double on Saturday, apparently unbothered by playing a third day in a row. Latson had 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the Noles’ 95-54 victory over Gonzaga.

• Through the season’s early going, undefeated Ohio State continues to get contributions from up and down a talented roster. Grad forward Ajae Petty had her best in game in a Buckeye uniform on Thursday. The transfer from Kentucky pushed Ohio State past Old Dominion, 70-47, at the Daytona Bech Classic with a 24-point and 11-rebound double-double.

• Ho hum, another Harmoni Turner masterclass. Harvard needed everything the senior guard could muster to edge St. John’s 54-52 on Thanksgiving Day. And she had it all, scoring from all three levels as she netted 27 points. She also went coast to coast for the game winner! Behind Turner, the Crimson have won seven-straight games and are off to the second-best start in program history.

• Another incredible effort from Maya McDermott, however, was not enough to score Northern Iowa a second upset of a Power 5 opponent. Meeting Auburn at the Paradise Jam on Thursday, the Panthers fell 65-64, despite 29 points, including four 3s, from the grad guard, who also is the nation’s third-leading scorer. Northern Iowa did rebound to defeat Pitt, 90-74, in their final game in the Virgin Islands on Saturday. While McDermott had 21 points and seven assists, fellow grad guard Kayba Laube popped off for 34 points, a point total powered by program-record 10 3-pointers!

• 11 3-pointers! Richmond junior guard Rachel Ullstrom was unconscious on Friday. Her program-record 11 triples took her to a career-high 35 points, and took the Spiders past Oakland, 76-49, at the Daytona Beach Classic.

• Kiki Iriafen had her most productive game in a USC uniform on Friday. The senior forward had a tidy 30-point and 12-rebound double-double. She also was a sparking 12-for-12 from the foul line as the Trojans crushed Saint Louis at the Acrisure Holiday Invitational, 104-65.

• As is her wont, grad wing Alyssa Ustby did a little bit of everything for North Carolina on Friday, scoring a season-high 24 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, tossing four assists, swatting three shots and snagging a pair of steals. The Tar Heels easily took care of NC Central, 119-43.

• Stanford senior guard Elena Bosgana was nearly perfect on Friday. She only missed a single free throw as she went a matching 5-for-5 from both 2-point and 3-point range, finishing with 26 points in the Cardinal’s 84-54 win over UC San Diego.

• DeYona Gaston continues to make an impact for Auburn. The grad forward propelled the Tigers past Pitt at the Paradise Jam, 82-50, with a 28-point and 10-rebound double-double.

• In Texas’ second game at the Gulf Coast Showcase on Saturday, freshman forward Justice Carlton had her coming out party, scoring 30 points as she shot 80 percent from the field in the Longhorns’ 94-59 win over Butler.

JuJu’s a good neighbor

Another day, another JuJu Watkins NIL deal. On Monday, State Farm officially welcomed the USC sophomore superstar to their roster of athlete endorsers.

Beginning on Nov. 29, you’ll see JuJu in a State Farm commercial with Jake. You also can catch more of Watkins in the docuseries, On the Rise: JuJu Watkins. Our Zachary Draves caught up with some behind-the-scenes folks about the series and its expected impact.

A look ahead

The SEC/ACC Challenge headlines a week brimming with must-see women’s college basketball action. Here are some of the most exciting matchups:

Wednesday, Dec. 4

Oklahoma vs. Louisville (5 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

Florida State vs. Tennessee (7:15 p.m. ET, SEC Network)

Thursday, Dec. 5

Kentucky vs. North Carolina (5 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

Texas vs. Notre Dame (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Ole Miss vs. NC State (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network)

Duke vs. South Carolina (9 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Stanford vs. LSU (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

Saturday, Dec. 7

USC vs. Oregon (4 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network)

Tennessee vs. Iowa (7 p.m. ET, FOX)

Louisville vs. UConn (9 p.m. ET, FOX)

Sunday, Dec. 8

Illinois vs. Ohio State (4 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network)

South Carolina vs. TCU (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2)