Women’s Basketball Weekend Preview 11/18-11/20
The weekend before Thanksgiving is actually a fairly light one as far as the women’s basketball scene is concerned. Regional matchups and a couple big national games dominate the top-five spotlight, but the reality is things won’t ramp up for a while. Meanwhile, let’s hope DePaul enjoys its escape from the cold weather of Chicago as it heads to Hawaii for a tournament.
SAN DIEGO STATE VS. No. 22 DePAUL (10 p.m. Friday at Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawaii)
The first game for the Blue Demons in the Jack in the Box Rainbow Wahnie Classic is also the first time in just under three years it has seen San Diego State. The Aztecs won the only previous meeting between the two schools, 76-70, in March 2009. DePaul is coming off two straight wins to start the season against St. Mary’s and Samford, in which it averaged 91 points per game. Meanwhile DePaul has held its opponents to 62.5 points per contest. San Diego State is also coming off a big 86-43 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. DePaul has three games in this tournament, as it faces Portland on Saturday and Hawaii on Sunday. Meanwhile San Diego State faces Hawaii on Saturday and Portland Sunday.
No. 15 MARYLAND AT UMBC (7 p.m. Saturday at RAC Arena in Baltimore, Maryland)
Fresh off a big 72-53 win over ninth-ranked Georgetown last week, the Terrapins take a 3-0 record into a city rivalry contest against University Maryland-Baltimore County. Maryland has beaten its three opponents to date by an average of 31 points a game, including an 82-46 crushing of Towson. UMBC started off with two straight wins over Morgan State and Monmouth before losing 68-60 to Coppin State. Maryland is at home (or in the Baltimore area, at least) for its first five games, and this UMBC game is the second of seven straight in the Baltimore metro area.
No. 14 LSU AT TULANE (8 p.m. Saturday at Fogelman Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana)
Interstate 10 gets a workout when LSU travels from its Baton Rouge home to New Orleans for another chapter of the big rivalry. It has been close games for LSU in the first two contests, as the Tigers beat Wichita State 64-56 and Georgetown 51-40. LSU won’t be adding up many miles in the next few weeks. Nine of the next 10 games for the Tigers are in-state contests, with the exception of a Nov. 27 tilt at Ohio State. Tulane beat Loyola New-Orleans 74-49 and Louisiana-Monroe 62-45 to start its season, so both teams are unbeaten heading into this contest.
No. 21 USC AT No. 11 GEORGIA (2 p.m. Sunday at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Georgia)
The Trojans have to travel to Nebraska on Friday before heading southeast for what should be another good game. In fact, USC is racking up the frequent-traveler mileage in the next four contests. In addition to games at Lincoln against Nebraska and Athens against Georgia, USC is headed to the Bahamas for the Junkaroo Jam on Nov. 25-26. The Bulldogs’ first five games are all in state, with four at Athens and another (Georgia Southern) in Statesboro. USC narrowly beat Fresno State by eight points, 65-57, in its only victory of the season. Georgia is off to a 3-0 start with wins over TCU, Georgia Southern and the College of Charleston, and it has averaged close to 75 points a game in the process.
XAVIER AT No. 7 LOUISVILLE (2 p.m. Sunday at KFC YUM! Center in Louisville, Kentucky)
Louisville can’t let this game consume it too much, even though the Cardinals didn’t do so well in its contest against Texas A&M. This is sort of a rivalry in itself, as the two schools are separated by little more than an hour and change on Interstate 71. Xavier started out with a 66-61 win over Eastern Kentucky before it lost 71-65 to Mississippi State. Xavier takes that 1-1 record up against Louisville, which also beat Eastern Kentucky (77-53) in addition to a 73-64 win over Missouri State and a 76-58 loss to Texas A&M. Louisville has two home games before a Thanksgiving weekend trip to Florida.
