Last Night in College Basketball: Even Without Key Players, UConn Dominated

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UConn shows off its depth, extends win streaks

UConn faced off against Xavier on Wednesday without starting senior forward Serah Williams — last year’s Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year before her transfer from Wisconsin — and freshman forward Blanca Quinonez, who is averaging 10.6 points in 19.6 minutes per game off the bench this season. You would not know this was the case unless you were told or saw it yourself, given the way the game played out.

Junior guard Ashlynn Shade stepped up with 12 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and a career-high and Division I-leading 9 steals, helping UConn force an absurd 34 turnovers. And sophomore guard Allie Ziebell was red-hot off the bench: she played 29 minutes and scored a career-best 34 points on 11-for-15 shooting while sinking 10 3-pointers, which tied the Huskies’ program record. Ziebell also had 3 assists and 2 steals, and her 34 points represented more than what Xavier’s starters managed, combined — the fivesome put up 33 points as a unit, with the bench adding the other half-dozen in a 97-39 defeat.

Ziebell just likes shooting against Xavier: every time she has made at least 5 3-pointers — this is the third time it’s happened — it has been against the Musketeers.

What’s maybe most incredible about the final score is that UConn was up just 22-17 after the first quarter, and Xavier even had a lead for a bit. Then things got very ugly for the Musketeers. The Huskies not only forced 34 turnovers, but scored 48 points off of them, and the defense held Xavier to 7, 7, and 8 points in each of the three remaining quarters. UConn stole the ball 22 times as a team; Xavier didn’t register a single theft. 

And again, this was without Williams and Quinonez, a starting defensive-minded forward and the primary option off the bench that’s trusted to run things when Williams or sophomore star forward Sarah Strong needs a breather, and the two top scorers after Strong and fifth-year guard Azzi Fudd. (Williams, incidentally, is now behind both Shade and Ziebell in points per game after last night.)

UConn has now won 50-straight Big East matchups, tied for the 12th-longest conference winning streak in Division I women’s basketball. It was also the Huskies’ 38th win in a row overall, breaking a tie with 2013-2014 Notre Dame for the 11th-longest streak in women’s D-I history. Three more victories would give UConn half of the top-10 such streaks in Division I women’s basketball, as the Huskies would pass 1985-1987 Texas’ 40-game run.

Standing in UConn’s way on Sunday is the last team that it lost against: No. 15 Tennessee. The Huskies lost to and in Tennessee on Feb. 6, 2025, 80-76. They then won the final seven games of the regular season, however, then the Big East tournament and the 2025 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, and are now 22-0 in 2025-2026. 

Sunday’s big game, by the way, will air on Feb. 1 at 12 p.m. ET live on FOX and the FOX Sports app.

Washington upsets Maryland in 2OT

No. 25 Washington took on No. 16 Maryland on the road, and some killer basketball was the result. Not only did the Huskies upset the Terps, but they did so in double-overtime, 83-80. 

Junior guard Sayvia Sellers was the driving force behind the Huskies’ attack, with a career-best 38 points — the most in Division I men’s or women’s ball last night — on 15-for-32 shooting with 5 3s, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. There was also a serious battle for boards in this game. Maryland junior forward Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu D-I led all of D-I’s women with 16 rebounds, tied with Army’s Kya Smith, and she got more than a little help from 6-foot-2 senior guard Saylor Poffenbarger, who logged a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds, and senior guard Yarden Garzon, who dropped 24 points with 7 rebounds. Maryland, as a team, pulled down 52 boards, but that was barely enough to beat out Washington, which had 50 of its own rebounds thanks to sophomore guard Avery Howell and freshman forward Brynn McGaughy collecting 11 each.

The two were basically this close in everything. Both sank 30 shots, with the Huskies shooting 37% and the Terps 38%. Both hit 13 free throws, were one apart in assists and Washington scored 40 points in the paint to Maryland’s 36. There was some real separation in the score for a bit, however, with Maryland going up 13 at one point, and leading for 59% of the game as a whole. Then, Washington won the third quarter, 23-11, and senior guard Ella Ladine hit a 26-footer with 13 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 59; Maryland would miss both of its layup attempts to win as time expired.

With no time left in overtime, Poffenbarger was fouled and had a chance to win it for the Terrapins. Instead, she got the first to tie the score, 72-72, then missed the second, while Washington grabbed the rebound. Poffenbarger would once again get the chance to be the hero in the second OT with 12 seconds left and the Huskies up 82-80, but she missed a layup, got her own rebound, passed it out and then watched Kyndal Walker also miss a layup. McGaughy got the rebound with 2 seconds left, and outside of one more sank free throw for Washington, that was that — the Huskies won, 83-80, and moved to 7-3 in Big Ten play, half-a-game behind fifth-place Ohio State, while Maryland fell to 5-5 and a tie for eighth.

Wisconsin comes back from down 20

With 14 seconds left in the first half, Wisconsin had managed all of 15 points, but Minnesota had just hit a 3 to extend its lead to 20. The Badgers would manage another bucket before heading to the locker room down 35-17. When play resumed, it would be the Gophers unable to put together any offense — with 10:37 left in the second half, junior guard John Blackwell hit a 3-pointer to bring Wisconsin within 2, 39-37. In those nearly 10 minutes, the Golden Gophers had managed just 4 points.

While Minnesota’s offense eventually woke back up, that stretch of nearly 10 minutes cost them. The Gophers scored 24 points over the next 10:37, but the Badgers put up 30. Blackwell scored 23 points total (and Wisconsin’s final 7 points) with 7 rebounds and an assist and steal each, while senior guard Nick Boyd contributed 21 points and 5 assists. Wisconsin got very little from anyone else besides this duo as far as the box score goes, but defensively? Minnesota didn’t even get many opportunities to shoot in the second half, as they shot 8-for-18 total in the last 20 minutes, and didn’t even attempt a bucket until the first five minutes of the second had nearly gone by.

Wisconsin is now 7-3 in Big Ten play, tied with Purdue and UCLA for fifth in the conference. All three teams are one win and two losses behind Illinois and the possibility of a double bye in the conference tourney.

Iowa State upsets Texas Tech

When junior forward Addy Brown suffered a lower body injury, it was a disaster for Iowa State. The Cyclones lost the last game she played in, as well as the next four matchups — Brown was not only the second leading scorer on the team, but also its best facilitator and a key rebounder. After those five losses, however, Iowa State seems to have found its footing again. They dropped 93 points on Cincinnati and 90 on Arizona in back-to-back wins, and on Wednesday upset No. 21 Texas Tech, 84-70, on the road.

Division I women’s leading scorer and junior center Audi Crooks scored 33 points on 13-for-19 shooting while grabbing 12 rebounds — her best night since Brown’s injury, which also included her 2,000th career point. Junior guard Jada Williams added 15 points with 9 assists, and senior forward Sydney Harris played 31 minutes off the bench, filling at least part of Brown’s shoes with a 13-point, 12-rebound double-double.

Outside of the second quarter, when the Lady Raiders asserted themselves with a 20-14 showing, Iowa State was in control throughout. The Cyclones are now back to 5-5 in Big 12 play, and look like they are capable of being a dangerous opponent even without their key facilitator. If Iowa State can get the ball to Crooks in the paint, good things are going to happen for its offense, and that’s exactly what went down on Wednesday.

Iowa State’s coach, Bill Fennelly, is now also the winningest coach in Big 12 women’s basketball history after Wednesday’s W: it was the 297th Big 12 win of his career.

Houston, Florida rebound from defeats

Both No. 10 Houston and No. 19 Florida had been surging of late, until they were not. The Cougars fell from No. 6 in the poll after an upset against ranked Texas Tech, while the Gators were upset by unranked Auburn, 76-67, on Saturday, dropping them from No. 16. Both teams avoided a losing streak in Wednesday’s action, though, with Houston topping TCU, 79-70, while Florida routed South Carolina, 95-48. 

While beating TCU by nine points might not wow in a vacuum, the Horned Frogs entered play ranked 44th in the NCAA Evaluation Tool — that’s a top-50 team with aspirations for March. Freshman guard Kingston Flemings was the key to the W for the Cougars, as he scored a game-high 27 points on 8-for-16 shooting and a perfect 9-for-9 from the line, while grabbing 5 boards with 5 assists. Senior guard Emmanuel Sharp added 23 points, and the team as a whole shot an excellent 22-for-24 from the line while also outpacing TCU from deep, 9 3-pointers to 4.

South Carolina isn’t as significant of an opponent as TCU, but it still came into the game ranked 90th in NET. Florida beat them by 47 points, nearly doubling up on the Gamecocks. Four of the five Gators’ starters scored between 10 and 18 points, and junior guard Urban Klavzar scored 11 points in 20 minutes off the bench, as well. Florida outrebounded South Carolina, 45 to 24, had 28 assists to the Gamecocks’ 4, and shot 62% overall compared to South Carolina’s paltry 26%. It was a thrashing, and just what Florida needed to right itself.

Troy beats Marshall despite Lewis-Eutsey

The Sun Belt is a competitive conference in the sense that it’s got plenty of teams vying for the top, but it might also have just the one March Madness bid — the automatic one each conference receives for its champion. Which makes games like Wednesday’s between Troy and Marshall significant for the Sun Belt: Arkansas State sits atop it at 9-1, Georgia Southern second at 9-2, then came Marshall (8-2) and Troy (7-2) behind them.

The Trojans would win this matchup, 85-82, and did so despite a huge effort from the Thundering Herd’s Timaya Lewis-Eutsey. The senior guard scored 33 points on 12-for-24 shooting with 7 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks and a D-I leading 10 assists. Troy made up for those points and then some, though, with four starters reaching double-digits and three of them scoring at least 17. Senior forwards Zay Dyer and Fortuna Ngnawo both logged double-doubles, with 17 points and 14 rebounds for the former and 21 points with 12 rebounds for the latter, helping the Trojans to a commanding 51-31 lead in rebounds that allowed for significant opportunities for second-chance points: Troy pulled down 23 offensive boards to Marshall’s 9.

Marshall had the lead, 81-80, with 1:39 left on the clock after a Lewis-Eutsey and-1, but Dyer hit her own free throw to tie it up and then senior guard Ashley Baez sank a 3-pointer with 57 seconds left to go up 84-81 — all 18 of her points came in the second half, helping Troy make its 21-point comeback.

The win was also the 500th of Troy coach Chanda Rigby’s collegiate career. Of those, 272 wins have come with Troy, leaving her three shy of becoming the program’s all-time winningest coach.

St. John’s wins 7th-straight

Things were rough for St. John’s for a while there. Ranked No. 5 in the preseason, the Red Storm fell and fell in the poll until they slipped off it entirely for four weeks. St. John’s reentered the poll at No. 25 this week, however, and then faced off against a top-50 team in Butler in Big East action on Wednesday.

The Red Storm won handily, 92-70, pushing Butler to 57th in NET while moving their own rank in the NCAA Evaluation Tool up to 24th. St. John’s shot 56% overall and outrebounded Butler 41-31, allowing them to also handle the Bulldogs in the paint, 46-32. 

St. John’s is now 14-1 in the past two seasons in January — non-conference play might have been tough for the Red Storm, but they went right back to beating up on the Big East when conference play opened. They are now 9-1 in conference play, second in the Big East behind 10-0 UConn. While the conference has left a little to be desired this season as far as March aspirations go, St. John’s reviving its season could go a long way toward changing that.