Women’s Hoops Heat Check is back with Cole Huff and Mitchell Northam. Part 1: Standout Players can be read here. Part 2: What we loved last week is here. For Part 3 we’re looking at things we hated over the last week and the most notable moments.
Cole: Midday Games
Very quick rant: I HATE that so many women’s college basketball games are played during the middle of weekdays at random times. Like, I’ll be in the middle of my workday and realize I’ve missed half of a basketball game I really wanted to watch.
For example, Aneesah Morrow’s DePaul Blue Demons played at 12:00 p.m. ET on Monday, Boston College played at 11:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday and No. 13 Utah took the floor on Wednesday for a 5:00 p.m. ET tip (not that bad, I guess). But I’m on the West Coast, so these games are early and hard to catch live.
Sure, recording games is an option if it’s on TV and you don’t have to go through the rigors of paying for different streaming services. But in a sport that continues to grow and become more visible, it would be nice if more of these games could be played when viewers have time to tune in and watch.
Maybe it’s not possible, given multiple teams on campus share venues. But that’s just my rant for the week.
(Note from Mitch: Also, stop playing games on FloHoops, y’all.)
Mitch: A season without Tamari Key
Women’s basketball this year just won’t be as fun without one of the nation’s best shot-blockers. Last week, Tennessee – whose rough season just seems to be getting worse – announced that senior center Tamari Key would sit out the rest of the season after blood clots were discovered in her lungs.
Key wasn’t just an essential piece to Tennessee’s success; she was one of the top post players in the country when she was at her best. She was third in the nation last season in blocks with 3.5 per game. This season, she was shooting a career-best 66.7% from the floor. Key was also, up to this point, incredibly durable. Last Tuesday was the first time ever she missed a game for the Vols.
The 6-foot-6 forward is expected to make a full recovery and has eligibility to play college ball again next season. And we can’t wait for her return to the court.
Notable Moments This Week
Mitch: Maryland’s dramatic wins
The Terps have had a wild last two games. In their first Big Ten road game of the season, Maryland was tied 74-74 with Purdue with 6.5 seconds left. Princeton transfer Abby Meyers got the ball, drove to her left into the paint and was suddenly surrounded by a pair of Boilermakers. She looked to the top of the key and found sophomore Shyanne Sellers, who was wide open.
SHYANNE SELLERS FOR THE WIN! pic.twitter.com/96gEtIygPI
— Maryland Women’s Basketball (@TerpsWBB) December 9, 2022
“The play was drawn up for Abby and I saw she was going to be in a little bit of trouble, so I just filled in behind like we did in practice this week,” Sellers said. “I saw the clock and saw that there was like 1.5 seconds and I was like, ‘I don’t have time to dribble and pull up’, so I just shot it. It’s going in—that’s what I thought.”
Sellers had 15 points and five assists in that buzzer-beating victory. It wasn’t just any win though. Sellers’ heroics gave Maryland coach Brenda Frese her 600th career win. Which caused for a celebration with… a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hat.
Then, on Sunday, Sellers tallied 19 points and six assists in Maryland’s win over a depleted and banged-up UConn team. It was the Terps’ first-ever win over the Huskies; they had previously been 0-7. But Maryland still needed some late-game magic to shut the door on UConn. This time, Diamond Miller delivered the dagger.
A DIAMOND DAGGER!!! pic.twitter.com/Sy4yh0gg89
— Maryland Women’s Basketball (@TerpsWBB) December 11, 2022
These finishes – combined with the Terps’ upset over Notre Dame earlier this season – should tell us that we can’t count out shell-shocking Maryland in any late-game situations this year.
Cole: Brittney Griner returns home!
This isn’t directly correlated to all that is happening in women’s basketball at the moment. However, Brittney Griner is a women’s basketball icon, and her release is important to talk about.
It had been far too long since Brittney Griner’s wrongful detainment in Russia — 294 days, to be exact. And after being sentenced to nine years, having been relocated to a penal colony and having her communication with others limited throughout the nearly 300 days, Griner is now free and back on U.S. soil. Her release was reported last Thursday, which came by way of a prisoner swap.
For those interested in the basketball-related happenings in Griner’s world, ESPN’s T.J. Quinn reported that Griner had already picked up a basketball and begun a light basketball workout.
When or if Griner resumes her professional basketball career is irrelevant, though she says she wants to play in the WNBA this season. But it is cool to see that basketball has offered her enough peace of mind to serve as a bit of a sanctuary after being away from it for around 10 months.
I think I speak for everyone when I express how relieved and happy were are to have Griner back home where she belongs. Hopefully, she will be offered all of the privacy support, time and help she needs to heal from such a devastating experience.
