UCLA, along with many other of the top teams, are heading to Thanksgiving tournaments in warm locations.
The newly crowned No. 1 Bruins are headed to Hawaii for the Rainbow Wahine Tournament where they’ll face UT Martin, Fresno State and Hawaii over three days.
Coach Cori Close loves the challenge of it.
“The turnaround and opportunity helps us prepare at a championship level as a habit,” she said. “It’s mostly mental preparation and create our own urgency. Not to believe our own press clippings, but how do we get better this week and stay focused.”
This is the first time the school’s been No. 1 in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll.
The best game of the week may come in the Cayman Islands when No. 3 Notre Dame faces 17th-ranked TCU. The schools boast two of the best offenses in the game with the Irish led by a dynamic backcourt of Olivia Miles and Hannah Hidalgo. The Horned Frogs, who have their best ranking since 2004, are led by the inside-outside duo of Sedona Prince and Hailey Van Lith.
Other top games ahead include South Carolina against Iowa State at the Fort Myers Tip-Off. The Cyclones dropped from eighth to 15th in the poll after a stunning loss to Northern Iowa. The Gamecocks will need to find a way to slow down Cyclones star center Audi Crooks.
Sidelined
No. 25 Nebraska lost star sophomore center Natalie Potts for the season to a torn ACL. She was the team’s leading scorer and rebounder averaging 14.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. She also was shooting 68.4% from the field.
Getting healthy
For the first time in a few years UConn is close to having its entire roster healthy. The Huskies welcomed back Azzi Fudd in a win over FDU, the 1,217th of coach Geno Auriemma’s career. That broke the record he shared with Tara VanDerveer for most career wins in college basketball history.
Stat sheet
No. 22 Iowa (6-0) no longer has star Caitlin Clark, but is off to its best start since 2017-18 when the team won its first seven games. ... No. 19 Illinois has the longest active winning streak in the nation with 10 consecutive victories dating to last season.
Game of the week
No. 13 Duke and No. 8 Oklahoma will face off in Las Vegas in the championship game of the Ball Dawgs Classic. The Blue Devils knocked off ninth-ranked Kansas State in the opener.
