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The women’s college basketball season is starting to get wild, with several ranked teams, including No. 1-ranked South Carolina, falling in the season’s third week. Here’s a look back at the biggest and best happenings:

Irish, Bruins secure statement wins in Southern California

This weekend, four teams ranked in the top six nationally met in Los Angeles, with USC hosting Notre Dame on Saturday and UCLA welcoming South Carolina on Sunday.

In both games, the lower-ranked team made a statement. First, as Edwin Garcia recounted, the Fighting Irish invaded a sold-out Galen Center and took down the Trojans, 74-61, fueled by the guard tandem of sophomore Hannah Hidalgo and senior Olivia Miles.

Then, the Bruins not only defended their Southern California turf, but also became the first team to defeat the defending national champion Gamecocks in 44 tries. No. 1 South Carolina went down—hard.

UCLA raced out to a 15-2 advantage and never looked back, winning 77-62 for the program’s first victory over a No. 1-ranked team. While the Bruins benefitted from a hot shooting afternoon, with the team shooting 47.6 percent from behind the arc and junior guard Londynn Jones, who entered the game shooting 24 percent from 3, going 5-for-5 from deep, it was a complete victory for the home team. As South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley put it, “That was beautiful basketball by UCLA, beautiful on both sides….We ran into a buzzsaw today.”

UCLA made the visitors uncomfortable, not only preventing South Carolina from flexing their traditional interior advantages but also forcing the Gamecocks’ bigs into major scoring struggles. Conversely, South Carolina couldn’t do the same to UCLA junior center Lauren Betts, who finished with an 11-point and 14-rebound double-double, along with four assists and four blocks. Jones led the Bruins with 15 points, while freshman guard Elina Aarnisalo scored 13 points through fearless-yet-steady play.

The outside shooting of sophomore guard Tessa Johnson and senior guard Te-Hina Paopao was the only saving grace for an otherwise stagnant South Carolina offense. Johnson scored 14 points from off the bench, while Paopao went 4-for-4 from 3 as she led the team with 18 points. The Gamecocks could never get their feedback machine—where defensive stops turn into easy scores—going. As such, the South Carolina run that most observers expected never materialized. UCLA pushed the margin to 21 points at the break and never allowed South Carolina to threaten in the second half.

Don’t forget what Northern Iowa did

Three weeks into the 2024-25 season, Northern Iowa owns the nation’s biggest upset, toppling No. 8 Iowa State on Wednesday night. It was the program’s first top-10 win.

Fifth-year senior guard Maya McDermott was the engine driving the Panthers’ upset. She scored 37 points, shooting 66.7 percent from the field and 75 percent from behind the arc. She also added five boards, four assists and three steals. Fellow fifth-year senior guard Kayba Laube was her co-pilot, draining five triples as she scored 21 points.

The pair’s performance was all the more impressive as, just the day before, they learned that their teammate and roommate, senior forward Grace Boffeli, would be out for the season with a torn ACL.

Peak performances

These players joined Maya McDermott, Hannah Hidalgo, Olivia Miles, Londynn Jones and Lauren Betts in authoring some of the most excellence efforts from the past week:

• Florida State junior guard Ta’Niya Latson did her thing—and then some—on Monday. She not only showed off her scoring bag, scorching NC Central with a season-high 34 points, but she also put on a passing clinic, tossing a career-high 10 assists for her first career double-double. The Seminoles won 119-57. She followed that up with 25 points, five rebounds and five assists as FSU downed in-state rival Florida, 98-74. Latson also has assumed the nation’s scoring lead, averaging 26.8 points per game.

• LSU senior wing Aneesah Morrow is the nation’s leading rebounder, grabbing 13 boards a game. (We would say she learned from former teammate Angel Reese, yet she led the nation in boards as a freshman and sophomore at DePaul.) Morrow tallied a pair of double-doubles on Monday and Wednesday. In the Tigers’ 98-59 win over Troy on Monday, it was 23 points and 12 boards; in Wednesday’s 85-74 win over Tulane, it was 23 points and 16 boards. Morrow has a double-double in four of five games. She’s automatic!

• Illinois grad forward Kendall Bostic also had a big week. On Monday, the Fighting Illini thrashed LeMoyne, 94-25, behind a 25-point and 12-rebound double-double from Bostic. Against somewhat tougher competition on Friday, Bostic’s 31 points and eight boards helped Illinois take care of Oregon State, 85-66.

• A former Fighting Illini also turned in a loud performance on Friday. Now at Miami (Ohio), junior guard Camille Jackson had a hyper-efficient and career-high 27 points, shooting 81.8 percent from the field. The Red Hawks rolled over Hiram, 97-41.
• Beckett Harrison said to keep an eye on UCF. On Friday, senior guard Kaitlin Peterson exploded for 35 points, leading the Knights over Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, 81-71. On Sunday, UCF enjoyed an easier 80-55 win over Florida A&M, with Peterson scoring 21 points.

• Creighton grad guard Lauren Jensen unleashed her second game of the season of more than 30 points, dropping 31 as the Bluejays took down Nebraska on Friday, 80-74. Jensen drained four 3s and was a perfect 7-for-7 from the line.

• Last week, Murray State and sophomore forward Haven Ford gave LSU a scare. On Saturday, they knocked off Memphis, 87-83. Ford powered the win with a career-high 31 points and 11 boards.

• Junior guard Kaylene Smikle continues to kill it for Maryland. Having scored at least 20 points in five of the Terrapins’ six games, she scored a season-high 25 points on Sunday in just 19 minutes as Maryland crushed St. Francis, 107-35. Smikle also added five rebounds, five assists and three steals.

• After a rough start to the season, Indiana has rebounded to win three-straight games over solid opponents. The latest was a 73-65 win over ranked Baylor on Sunday at the Battle 4 Atlantis, where the Hoosiers were boosted by a season-high 34 points from junior guard Shay Ciezki. A transfer who spent the first two seasons of her college career at Penn State, Ciezki was 3-for-4 from 3 and 12-for-13 from the line.

• Ohio State freshman guard Ava Watson announced her presence on Sunday, coming off the bench and drilling six 3s as the Buckeyes beat Bowling Green, 95-53. Watson finished with a team-high 20 points.

• Drake senior guard Katie Dinnebier tried to deal Iowa State a second-straight loss to an unranked opponent. She ignited from behind the arc, going 8-for-10 from 3 to score 39 points. However, the Cyclones held off the Bulldogs behind a season-high 33 points from sophomore center Audi Crooks, with her final two points, dropping just before the buzzer sounded, allowing ISU to sneak out the 80-78 win.

• Have a day, Hailey Van Lith! The grad guard, who has found her groove at TCU, powered the Horned Frogs past Idaho State, 86-46, with a season-high 27 points, including four 3-pointers. She also grabbed five boards and dished four assists.

Paige x Panini

UConn superstar and presumptive No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft Paige Bueckers, who may or may not become a Dallas Wing, has signed an exclusive, multi-year deal with Panini America. On the partnership, Bueckers said:

Growing up, I used to collect cards of all my favorite players, to know that my teammates and I will have our own Panini trading cards and that fans are going to go collect it is really special. I can’t wait to collaborate on projects that give collectors and fans more ways to celebrate our game.

Recruiting recap

The early signing period has closed, but the women’s college basketball recruiting landscape remains unsettled. Two of the top five recruits from the class of 2025 have yet to announce their decisions: No. 1-ranked Aaliyah Chavez and No. 4-ranked Agot Makeer. Chavez, a 5-foot-11 point guard from Lubbock, TX, has narrowed her list to Texas Tech, Texas, Oklahoma, South Carolina and UCLA. Makeer, a 6-foot-1 wing from Ontario, Canada, is deciding between South Carolina, UConn, Kentucky and Michigan State.

For now, however, LSU claims the nation’s best class, according to Shane Laflin of ESPN and Premier Basketball. At Tennessee, new head coach Kim Caldwell appears to have made a quick, positive impression on the next generation of potential stars, with the Lady Vols rising to No. 2 in the rankings. The Pauldo twins—guards Mia (No. 11) and Mya (No. 56)—headline a group of five top-60 prospects headed to Rocky Top next fall. Stanford, North Carolina and UConn round out the top-five classes.

A look ahead

A number of Thanksgiving tournaments are the menu, beginning with the Baha Mar Tournaments and Ball Dawgs Classic on Monday. Check in with Swish Appeal to keep up with all the Feast Week action.

Monday, Nov. 25

Baha Mar Pink Flamingo and Women’s Championships begin

Ball Dawgs Classic begins

Tuesday, Nov. 26

Acrisure Series begins

Thursday, Nov. 27

Cayman Islands Classic begins

Fort Myers Tip Off begins

Friday, Nov. 28

Gulf Coast Showcase begins